121 And the men of Ephraim are called together, and pass over northward, and say to Jephthah, 'Wherefore has thou passed over to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and on us hast not called to go with thee? thy house we burn over thee with fire.' 2 And Jephthah saith unto them, 'A man of great strife I have been (I and my people) with the Bene-Ammon, and I call you, and ye have not saved me out of their hand, 3 and I see that thou art not a saviour, and I put my life in my hand, and pass over unto the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah giveth them into my hand—and why have ye come up unto me this day to fight against me?' 4 And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fighteth with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead smite Ephraim, because they said, 'Fugitives of Ephraim 'are' ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim—in the midst of Manasseh.' 5 And Gilead captureth the passages of the Jordan to Ephraim, and it hath been, when 'any of' the fugitives of Ephraim say, 'Let me pass over,' and the men of Gilead say to him, 'An Ephramite thou?' and he saith, 'No;' 6 that they say to him, 'Say, I pray thee, Shibboleth;' and he saith, 'Sibboleth,' and is not prepared to speak right—and they seize him, and slaughter him at the passages of the Jordan, and there fall at that time, of Ephraim, forty and two chiefs.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 12:1-6
Commentary on Judges 12:1-7
(Read Judges 12:1-7)
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 disadvantages. It often occasions quarrels that prove of ill consequence, as it did here. No contentions are so bitter as those between brethren or rivals for honour. What need we have to watch and pray against evil tempers! May the Lord incline all his people to follow after things which make for peace!