Judges 12:1

Judges 12:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.
• New International Version (NIV)The Ephraimite forces were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!”

Context of Judges 12:1

The men of Ephraim's tribe joined together to make an army. They crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, ‘Why did you go to fight against the Ammonites without us? You should have asked us to go with you. Now we will burn down your house with you inside it!’ 2Jephthah replied, ‘I did ask for your help! That was when my people and I first had a quarrel with the Ammonites. But you refused to rescue us. 3When I realized that you would not come to help us, we attacked the Ammonites ourselves. I put my life in danger. But the Lord put the Ammonites under my power. So why have you come to attack me now?’

Judges 12:1 word by word

וַיִּצָּעֵק֙ אִ֣ישׁ אֶפְרַ֔יִם וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֖ר צָפ֑וֹנָה וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ לְיִפְתָּ֜ח מַדּ֣וּעַ׀ עָבַ֣רְתָּ׀ לְהִלָּחֵ֣ם בִּבְנֵי־עַמּ֗וֹן וְלָ֙נוּ֙ לֹ֤א קָרָ֙אתָ֙ לָלֶ֣כֶת עִמָּ֔ךְ בֵּיתְךָ֕ נִשְׂרֹ֥ף עָלֶ֖יךָ בָּאֵֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the menאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• of Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• gathered themselves togetherצָעַקtsâ‛aq · to cryH6817
• and wentעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• northwardצָפוֹןtsâphôn tsâphôn · ZaphonH6828
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto Jephthahיִפְתָּחyiphtâch · JephthahH3316
• to fightלָחַםlâcham · to fightH3898
• against the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Ammonעַמּוֹן‛ammôn · AmmonH5983
• and didst not callקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call toH7121
• us to goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• with thee? we will burnשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
• thine houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• upon thee with fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784

Cross-references for Judges 12:1

• Judges 8:1The men of Ephraim's tribe asked Gideon, ‘Why have you insulted us? You should have called us to join with you to fight against the Midianites.’ They were very angry and they argued with Gideon.
• 2 Samuel 19:41Then all the men of Israel's tribes came to the king. They complained, ‘Why did our brothers, the men of Judah's tribe, take you for themselves? Why were they the only people who could help the king to cross the Jordan River? They helped you and your family and your soldiers to cross, and we had no part in it.’
• Psalms 109:4I have loved them, but they still accuse me. I will continue to pray for them.
• Ecclesiastes 4:4I also thought about the clever work that people do. I saw that people work hard because they are jealous of each other. They want to do better than other people. I realized that this has no purpose. It is like somebody who tries to catch the wind.
• John 10:32Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good things. The Father sent me to do them, and I have shown them to you. Which of those good things make you want to kill me with stones?’
• Judges 14:15On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, ‘Find a way to make your husband tell you the answer. If you do not, we will use fire to destroy your father's house, with you inside it! Did you ask us to come to your marriage party to make us poor?’
• Judges 15:6The Philistines asked, ‘Who did this?’ People said to them, ‘It was Samson, the man who married the young woman in Timnah. He did it because her father gave her to Samson's special friend instead of Samson.’ So the Philistines went and burned the man and his daughter to death.
• Proverbs 27:3A stone is heavy to carry and sand also weighs a lot. But the silly acts of a fool give more pain than both of those.
• James 3:16If you are jealous of other people and you want to make yourself important, that will cause trouble. People will argue and fight against one another. They will do all kinds of bad things.
• James 4:1You fight and quarrel among yourselves. Do you know why that happens? It is because of the troubles in your thoughts. You want to do bad things that you think will make you happy.

Commentaries on Judges 12:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1The men of Ephraim gathered themselves together - ויצעק vaiyitstsaek, they called each other to arms; summoning all their tribe and friends to arm themselves to destroy Jephthah and the Gileadites, being jealous lest they should acquire too much power.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Compare the similar complaint of the Ephraimites to Gideon Judges 8:1, when a civil war was only avoided by Gideon‘s wise and patriotic moderation. The overhearing pride of Ephraim comes out in both occurrences (see also Joshua 17:14-18). We will burn thine house upon thee with fire - Compare the fierce threat of the Philistines to Samson‘s wife Judges 14:15, and the yet fiercer execution Judges 15:6. Burning appears as a mode of capital punishment…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah. (1-7) Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel. (8-15) Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Zaphon was just east of the Jordan River, opposite the area belonging to the tribe of Ephraim.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-31. the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together--Hebrew, "were summoned." and went northward--After crossing the Jordan, their route from Ephraim was, strictly speaking, in a northeasterly direction, toward Mizpeh. the men of Ephraim ... said unto Jephthah, Wherefore ... didst [thou] not call us?--This is a fresh development of the jealous, rash, and irritable temper of the Ephraimites. The ground of their offense now was their desire of enjoying the…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 12:1

• Ammonites
• Citizens
• Ephraim
• Israel
• Jealousy
• Jephthah
• Judge
• Strife
• Treason
• War

In the dictionaries

• Ammon
• Ephraim
• Jephthah
• Shibboleth
• Strife
• Abdon (1)
• Gilead (1)
• Israel, History of
• Judges, Book of
• Judges, Period of

Commentaries on Judges 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings