Shibboleth: River, or an ear of corn. The tribes living on the east of Jordan,
separated from their brethren on the west by the deep ravines and the
rapid river, gradually came to adopt peculiar customs, and from
mixing largely with the Moabites, Ishmaelites, and Ammonites to
pronounce certain letters in such a manner as to distinguish them
from the other tribes. Thus when the Ephraimites from the west
invaded Gilead, and were defeated by the Gileadites under the
leadership of Jephthah, and tried to escape by the "passages of the
Jordan," the Gileadites seized the fords and would allow none to pass
who could not pronounce "shibboleth" with a strong aspirate. This the
fugitives were unable to do. They said "sibboleth," as the word was
pronounced by the tribes on the west, and thus they were detected
(Judges 12:1-6) Forty-two thousand were thus detected, and "Without
reprieve, adjudged to death, For want of well-pronouncing
shibboleth."
