Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, May 4th, 2024
the Fifth Week after Easter
the Fifth Week after Easter
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Dictionaries
Shibboleth
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Search for
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links
Shibboleth. (a stream). Judges 12:6. Shibboleth is the Hebrew word, which the Gileadites, under Jephthah, made use of at the passage of the Jordan, after a victory over the Ephraimites, to test the pronunciation of the sound, "sh", by those who wished to cross over the river. The Ephraimites, it would appear, in their dialect, substituted for "sh", the simple sound "s"; and the Gileadites, regarding every one who failed to pronounce "sh" as an Ephraimite, and therefore an enemy, put him to death accordingly. In this way, there fell 42,000 Ephraimites. There is no mystery in this particular word. Any word beginning with the sound "sh" would have answered equally well as a test.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
These files are public domain.
Bibliography Information
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Shibboleth'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​sbd/​s/shibboleth.html. 1901.
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Shibboleth'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​sbd/​s/shibboleth.html. 1901.