Shibboleth

    By
    Patrick Jean-Baptiste
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    The term Shibboleth appears in Judges 12:5-6 in the Old Testament. It was used as a linguistic test to distinguish the Ephraimites from the Gileadites during a conflict.

    And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
    Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

    Context of the Passage

    • The Ephraimites and the Gileadites, both groups within Israel, were at war.
    • The Gileadites, led by Jephthah, controlled the Jordan River crossings.
    • They used the word Shibboleth as a test because the Ephraimites pronounced it as Sibboleth (likely due to a regional dialect difference).
    • Those who failed the pronunciation test were identified as Ephraimites and were executed.

    Meaning of “Shibboleth”

    • The Hebrew word Shibboleth means “ear of grain” or “torrent of water.”
    • Over time, Shibboleth came to mean any test or password that distinguishes members of a group from outsiders.

    Synonyms:
    sibboleth, password