King James Version
Judges 12
15 verses with commentary
Jephthah and Ephraim
And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. gathered: Heb. were called
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Gathered themselves together.**—Literally, *were called. *Hence the Vulg. renders it “a sedition arose in Ephraim.” No doubt the phrase arose from the circulation of some warlike summons—whether watchword or token—among the tribe (Judges 7:23-24; Judges 10:17).
**Northward.**—Mizpeh in Gilead lay to the northeast of the tribe of Ephraim. The Hebrew word is *Tsaphonah, *rendered *Sephenia *in...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19-22. describes the scene of battle and the issue. It would seem (Jud 5:19) that Jabin was reinforced by the troops of other Canaanite princes. The battlefield was near Taanach (now Ta'annuk), on a tell or mound in the level plain of Megiddo (now Leijun), on its southwestern extremity, by the left bank of the Kishon.
**they took no gain of money--**They obtained no plunder.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah.(1-7)
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disa...
Read full commentary →And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine merc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon.**—Literally, *I was a man of strife, I and my people, and the children of Ammon exceedingly. *We have a similar phrase in Jeremiah 15:10. Jephthah adopts the tone of a recognised chief, as he had done to the Ammonites.
**And when I called you, ye delivered me not.**—Ephraim was not immediately affected by the Ammonite oppressio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. Curse ye Meroz--**a village on the confines of Issachar and Naphtali, which lay in the course of the fugitives, but the inhabitants declined to aid in their destruction.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah.(1-7)
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disa...
Read full commentary →And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **I put my life in my hands.**—Rather, *in the hollow of my hand *(*caph*)*. *(See for the phrase, Psalm 119:109; Job 13:14; 1Samuel 20:5; 1Samuel 28:21.) It expresses extreme peril.
**The Lord delivered them into my hand.**—Here the word for “hand” is *yad. *Here, as he had done in arguing with the king of the Ammonites (Judges 11:21-24), Jephthah appeals to the decision of Jehovah, as provin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-27. is a most graphic picture of the treatment of Sisera in the tent of Jael.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah.(1-7)
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disa...
Read full commentary →Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apost...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **All the men of Gilead.**—This probably implies the Eastern tribes generally.
**And the men of Gilead smote Ephraim because they said . . .**—The translation and the meaning are here highly uncertain. It seems to be implied that in spite of Jephthah’s perfectly reasonable answer the Ephraimites advanced to attack Gilead, and goaded the Gileadites to fury by intolerable taunts, which prevented...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-27. is a most graphic picture of the treatment of Sisera in the tent of Jael.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah.(1-7)
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disa...
Read full commentary →And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical patter...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Took the passages of Jordan.**—Only through these fords could the Ephraimites escape to their own tribe. (Comp. Judges 3:28; Judges 7:24.) But while it was excusable to cut off all escape from a dangerous foreign invader, it showed a terrible exasperation to leave no chance of flight to Israelites in a civil war.
**Before the Ephraimites.**—Literally, *to Ephraim, *which perhaps means “towar...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-27. is a most graphic picture of the treatment of Sisera in the tent of Jael.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah.(1-7)
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disa...
Read full commentary →Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cycl...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Say now Shibboleth.**—The word means “ford;” (Psalm 69:2) “depth of waters;” (Judges 12:15) “water flood;” (Isaiah 27:12) “channel.” The LXX. render it (Cod. B) “an ear of corn” ( Vulg., *quod interpretatur spica*)*, *and the word might have this meaning also (as it has in Genesis 41:5), because the root from which it is derived means both “to flow” and “to spring.” In the Alexandrian MS. of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-27. is a most graphic picture of the treatment of Sisera in the tent of Jael.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah.(1-7)
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disa...
Read full commentary →Three Minor Judges
And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins with Israel doing...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Judged Israel.**—The word implies that he was one of the recognised *Shophetim, *but there are no details to show in the case of any of the judges either what were the limits of their jurisdiction or what amount of authority it implied.
**In one of the cities of Gilead.**—The Hebrew only says, “in *cities *of Gilead.” This may, no doubt. mean “one of the cities of Gilead,” as in Genesis 19:2...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28-30. In these verses a sudden transition is made to the mother of the Canaanite general, and a striking picture is drawn of a mind agitated between hope and fear--**impatient of delay, yet anticipating the news of victory and the rewards of rich booty.
**the lattice--**a lattice window, common to the houses in warm countries for the circulation of air.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah.(1-7)
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disa...
Read full commentary →And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins with Israel doing evil (usually Baal worship), followed by God's judgment through forei...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Ibzan.**—Nothing more is known of Ibzan than is detailed in these three verses. The notion that Ibhtsam (אבצו) is the same as Boaz (בֹּ֫עַז) has nothing to support it.
**Of Beth-lehem.**—Usually assumed, as by Josephus (*Antt. v.* 7, § 13), to be Bethlehem in Judah. There are, however, two reasons against the identification: (1) That Bethlehem is even in this book distinguished as Bethlehem ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28-30. In these verses a sudden transition is made to the mother of the Canaanite general, and a striking picture is drawn of a mind agitated between hope and fear--**impatient of delay, yet anticipating the news of victory and the rewards of rich booty.
**the lattice--**a lattice window, common to the houses in warm countries for the circulation of air.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Thirty sons, and thirty daughters.**—Implying polygamy, wealth, and state (Judges 8:30).
**Whom he sent abroad**—i.e., whom he gave in marriage “out of his house” (Vulg., *quas emittens foras maritis dedit*)*. *The only reason for recording the marriage of his sons and daughters is to show that he was a great man, and sought additional influence by intermarriages with other families. It show...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28-30. In these verses a sudden transition is made to the mother of the Canaanite general, and a striking picture is drawn of a mind agitated between hope and fear--**impatient of delay, yet anticipating the news of victory and the rewards of rich booty.
**the lattice--**a lattice window, common to the houses in warm countries for the circulation of air.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Beth-lehem.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins with Israel doing evil (usually Baal worship), followed by God's judgment through foreign...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins with Israel doing evil (usually Baal worship), followed...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Elon.**—The name means “a terebinth.” Orientals to this day are often named from trees. (One of the author’s muleteers in Palestine was named *Ab Zeitûn, *“father of olives.”)
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins with Israel doing evil (usually Baal worship), follow...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Was buried in Aijalon.**—There is a play of words between אלון (Elon) and איילון (Ayalon), which is precisely the same word, though with different vowelpoints. It means not “a terebinth,” but “gazelle.” Ajalon is not *Yalo, *which is in the tribe of Dan (Joshua 10:12; 1Samuel 14:31); and it is at least doubtful whether it should not be read Elon, as in the LXX. (*Ailon, *both for the judge ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 6 Jud 6:1-6. The Israelites, for Their Sins, Oppressed by Midian.
**1. and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian--**Untaught by their former experiences, the Israelites again apostatized, and new sins were followed by fresh judgments. Midian had sustained a severe blow in the time of Moses (Nu 31:1-18); and the memory of that disaster, no doubt, inflamed their resentment against...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins with Israel doing evil (usually Baal worship), followed by God's ju...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Abdon.**—The name means “servant.” Some suppose that he is the unknown Bedan of 1Samuel 12:11.
**Hillel.**—The first occurrence of a name (“praising”) afterwards destined to be so famous in the annals of Jewish theology. Hillel, the rival of Shammai, shortly before our Lord’s day, may be regarded, with all his faults, as by far the greatest and best of the Rabbis.
**A Pirathonite.**—And, th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. made ... dens ... in the mountains and caves--**not, of course, excavating them, for they were already, but making them fit for habitation.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →And he had forty sons and thirty nephews , that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. nephews: Heb. sons' sons
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins with Israel doing...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Thirty nephews.**—The Hebrew has “sons of sons” (*benî bhanîm*)*, *and the word *nephews *in our version always means “grandsons” (*nepoles*)*, e.g., *in Job 18:19, Isaiah 14:22, 1Timothy 5:4, as in old English generally; similarly *nieces *means “granddaughters” in Wiclif’s Bible (Genesis 31:43, &c). “The Emperor Augustus . . . saw ere he died the *nephew *of his *niece, *that is to say, *...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.</strong><br><br>This verse contributes to the narrative of civil conflict with Ephraim and minor judges. The Book of Judges documents Israel's cyclical pattern of apostasy and deliverance, revealing both human depravity and divine mercy. Each cycle begins wit...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **In Pirathon.**—The city of David’s hero, Benaiah (2Samuel 23:30; 1 Maccabees 9:50; Jos. *Antt. xiii.* 1, § 3). It is now *Feratah, *six miles west of Shechem.
**In the mount of the Amalekites.**—The phrase is explained in Judges 12:14. It points to an early settlement of Amalekites in Central Palestine.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Sa...
Read full commentary →