“…they would tell him to say “Shibbolet.” If he said, “Sibbolet,” because he could not make his mouth pronounce it right, they took hold of him and killed him on the spot at the Yarden crossing; at that time 42,000 men of Efrayim died.”-Judges 12:6 It should be pretty obvious by now that Jephthah was […]

“Yiftach judged Israel for six years. Then Yiftach from Gil‘ad died, and he was buried in one of the cities of Gil‘ad.”-Judges 12:7 After his victory over the Ammonites, there’s something quite peculiar about Jephthah’s judgement over Israel. It only lasted 6 years. All of the other Shophetim ruled Israel from between 20-80 years. However, […]

“The men of Gil‘ad cut off Efrayim from the crossings over the Yarden, and whenever anyone from Efrayim tried to escape and said, ‘Let me go across,’ the men of Gil‘ad would ask him, ‘Are you from Efrayim?’ and if he said, ‘No,’  they would tell him to say ‘Shibbolet.’ If he said, ‘Sibbolet,’ because […]

When we last left off, the leaders of Ephraim had insulted Jephthah. This was a HUGE mistake that would cost them more than they bargained for. Why? Because Jephthah was a man who harbored bitter wounds and pent up feelings that could at any moment explode into a full blown rage. Remember, this was a […]

“The men of Efrayim assembled, crossed into Tzafon and said to Yiftach, ‘Why didn’t you call us to go with you when you went over to fight the people of ‘Amon? We’re ready to burn down your house with you in it!‘”-Judges 12:1 Anyone here ever see that movie The Bronx Tale starring Robert De […]