judges 12:1

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Judges 12:1

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”

— D.L. Moody
Judges 12:1
Verse 1 of 15

Scripture focus

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.

Judges 12:1KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Judges 12:1

Theological / Devotional

Northward. Hebrew, saphonah. Gilead was to the east and northeast of Ephraim. Because of this, most Bible translations give the word as a proper name. There was a town by the name of Zaphon in the Jordan valley, on the Gilead side, not far from Suecoth (Joshua 13:27).

Passedst thou over. They do not mean that he crossed the Jordan, but that he marched against the Ammonites.

Didst not call us. Both here and in Judges 8:1-3 the tribe of Ephraim is presented in an unfavorable light. They were passive in time of oppression, and arrogant when others had taken the initiative and won the victory. Gideon had been conciliatory toward them and overlooked their boorishness, but Jephthah was in no mood to become subservient to them. Their alleged grievance stemmed from their desire to be regarded as the leading Israelite tribe. Their pride led them to resent having had no part in the glory of the victory. Moreover, they denied to Gilead the right of separate action, let alone that of choosing a ruler.

By SdaBc