Shibboleth

“Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a harlot.” (Judges ch11 v1)

In Jephthah’s early life, he was something of an outlaw. His legitimate brothers expelled him from the house because of his birth. So he dwelt in the land of Tob and “worthless fellows” collected round him and went raiding with him (probably against other nations). David had led the same kind of life, while Saul reigned.

His fortunes turned when the elders of Gilead were looking for someone to defend the land against the Ammonites, and decided that the skills of Jephthah could be put to good use. They called him back to Mizpah to be their commander and also “our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead”. When the spirit of the Lord fell upon him, he gathered the manpower of the eastern bank tribes and crushed the Ammonites with great slaughter.

This outcome brought in the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim were the “boss” tribe of Israel in the Judges period. They thought of themselves as the true Israel when they broke away from David’s kingdom, and they still thought of themselves as the true Israel in the days when they were calling themselves the Samaritans.

The geography is important. Gilead and the Ammonites were on the east side of the Jordan. Ephraim were on the west side. Ephraim’s close brothers Manasseh straddled the Jordan a little further north, with a “half-tribe” on each side.

The Ephraimites had a low opinion of the Gilead people, who were not of the house of Joseph; “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh” (ch12 v4). That is, their population was swelled by outlaws and debtors who had escaped from across the Jordan (like characters in Huckleberry Finn “lighting out for the Territory”). Alternatively, the Hebrew phrase might mean “You always run away from us when we fight you”.

Ephraim were affronted by Jephthah’s campaign because they had not been invited to take part. I suspect this grievance was really about not getting a chance to share in the spoils of victory. They crossed the Jordan to look for vengeance, but this time Ephraim found themselves the defeated fugitives.

The ”shibboleth” episode is confusing, unless we follow the geography closely. The Ephraimites were scattered, on the wrong side of the river, and they wanted to get home. Instead of pursuing them directly, the Gileadites had gone straight to the Jordan fords (“we’ll cut them off at the pass”) and now controlled the escape routes.

Nobody was allowed to cross in safety unless they could say “shibboleth”, and the Ephraimites could only say “sibboleth”. So they died in large numbers. The “sh” sound has a secure place in the classic version of Hebrew, so this may be the difference between the “sons of Leah” dialect of Gilead and Judah, and the “house of Joseph” dialect prevailing in the hill country.

That is the origin of “shibboleth” as a metaphor meaning “test statement used to confirm that somebody is on the right side”. More frequently nowadays, perhaps, in the term “outworn shibboleth”. When I first began reading newspapers, politicians, or especially Labour Party politicians, seemed to be using it all the time. I haven’t seen it for years. Maybe it’s become an outworn shibboleth.

An extra note to explain what's happening. I'm currently re-working some of my older threads into a prospective book , likely to be called "Prophets, priests and politics", drawing mainly on threads about the prophets and threads from the "Timeline" series. Since existing threads don't cover all the ground, I need to fill in the gaps, and I thought |I might as well let some of that work spill over onto ATS. This will contnue for a while.

a book,I'd like that....

wait...you posted that my buddy David....David king David...was a ruffian.....cool...he was a rock and roller party king.....dancer too....according to his wife....wanted him to TONE DOWN the wild public dancing at the gates

a reply to: GBP/JPY
He was also a resourceful political operator, a serial breaker of the laws of Moses, and an over-indulgent father. I've done various threads about these things.

I need this information......

David...my buddy when we get there, ya see I relate to him and

and....scripture says we get to sit and talk with all the patriarchs....sit in a circle with Moses, and David....Herod will be right back went to get John the Baptist and Jesus

Oh there's Pilate now..... next to Ezekiel and Elijah....and Enoch golfing

a reply to: DISRAELI

a reply to: GBP/JPY
This Index thread will give you links with various threads on David;

Timeline

Cool thread. Thanks for posting.

a reply to: network dude
You're welcome. Glad you appreciated it.

a reply to: DISRAELI

you like most men look at the outside character. How what comes out of his mouth is what is in the inside. We like God need to look at the inward man, as a matter of fact we are told to by Paul.

a reply to: ChesterJohn
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: DISRAELI

Your mind had been corrupted of the simplicity that is Christ Jesus. You have made yourself an apostle of Christ but it is of no wonder for even Satan maketh himself an angle of light and his angels ministers of Righteousness. You have denied the clear teaching the word of God and are leading many astray to add works to their Faith for Salvation and works in order to stay saved. You take the hope of their security in Christ and have made it dependent on their own works.

I say this not to rebuke you (for you receive not the rebuke) but for the brethren who may think of you as something above that which you are.

I give you this warning as I have seen this before. those who oppose the truth will be cut off you are traveling that wide road which leads to destruction taking many with you. If you do not repent, if you are saved he will remove you soon enough for your false teachings and if you are not saved he will remove you soon because you Deceitfully handle the word of God.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Disraeli, I warn you because I have seen this before. I watched three men who went from solid teaching to the false teachings you have been teaching here. Each one, 7 years after they were warned, as you are, were taken to their long home. One died of liver cancer, one of bone cancer and one dropped dead in the pulpit. Please understand you place your own life at risk with false teaching and if you are saved the lord gives you fair warnings but eventually He will have to take you home.

And even if the Lord allows you to continue to prepare people for the Tribulation then when you come before him then you will see the truth and it will be to late. I leave you to yourself however I will still point out the false teaching you spread.

I would encourage the followers of Disraeli to go back and read all his teachings. These are the same teachings taught and promoted through the Roman Catholic church. an example Revelation is in the past, you must work to be saved and stay saved, that Paul's teachings are not equal to Jesus Teachings, you can lose salvation, that the Bible is full of errors. This is because he uses Bibles that are from just THREE documents Vaticanicus, Sinaiticus and the Alexandrian Text. These are all from North African city of Alexandria where Roman Catholicism was created.

Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. Paul warned us that from among us would rise men who were ravinous wolves that would tear apart the church. This has been on going for 1900 years. The end is nearer than you think.

The Holy Ghost (1 Cor 2:13) is the one to teach true believers, but it is men who teach those who are lost to keep them lost.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

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