Passage Research
Judges 12 — Sermon Preparation
Jephthah clashes with the tribe of Ephraim, using the word 'shibboleth' to identify and kill fugitives; three minor judges follow. Below is a research summary for Judges 12, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 15
- verses
- 223 / 102
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 4
- classic sermon excerpts
- 2
- preachers & commentators
Judges 12 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶפְרַיִם | ʼEphrayim | H669 | 9 | Ephrajim |
| שָׁפַט | shâphaṭ | H8199 | 7 | judge, sentence |
| יִפְתָּח | Yiphtâch | H3316 | 5 | Jiphtach |
| גִּלְעָד | Gilʻâd | H1568 | 6 | Gilad |
| קָבַר | qâbar | H6912 | 4 | inter |
| שְׁלוֹשִׁים | shᵉlôwshîym | H7970 | 4 | thirty, thirtieth |
| עָבַר | ʻâbar | H5674 | 4 | cross, transition |
How preachers through history handled this text
4 public-domain excerpts on Judges 12, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“In this chapter we have, I. Jephthah's rencounter with the Ephraimites, and the blood shed on that unhappy occasion (ver. 1-6), and the conclusion of Jephthah's life and government, ver. 7. II. A short account of three other of the judges of Israel: Ibzan (ver. 8-10), Elon (ver. 11, 12), Abdon, ver. 13-15. Displeasure of the Ephraimites; Punishment of the Ephraimites. (b. c. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 2 (Joshua to Esther), on Judges 12:1–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Ammon— Judg 12:1
- Jordan— Judg 12:1
- Zaphon 1— Judg 12:1
- Bethlehem 3— Judg 12:10
- Aijalon 2— Judg 12:12
- Pirathon— Judg 12:13
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