Word of Jephthah's victory spread across the land — but not all hearts rejoiced.
From the hills of Ephraim came anger and pride. The men of the tribe gathered their warriors, crossed over to Zaphon, and confronted Jephthah with fire in their voices.
"Why did you march to war against the Ammonites without calling us?" they shouted. "We will burn your house down with you inside!"
Jephthah stood before them, weary yet unyielding.
"I called for you," he said, his tone edged with frustration. "But you did not come. You did not save me from the Ammonites. So I took my life in my hands, fought them myself — and the Lord gave me victory. And now, after the battle is won, you come to fight me?"
But their pride blinded them. The men of Ephraim mocked the people of Gilead, calling them renegades — outcasts of Ephraim and Manasseh.
The insult stung deep, and Jephthah called the warriors of Gilead to arms.
The two tribes clashed in a bitter civil war.
Gilead struck hard and fierce, driving Ephraim back to the Jordan River. They seized the fords — the narrow crossings — and guarded them closely.
Whenever a man tried to cross, the Gileadites would ask, "Are you an Ephraimite?"
If the man said, "No," they would test him.
"Say the word: Shibboleth."
Those from Ephraim could not pronounce it rightly — they said "Sibboleth" instead. That single sound sealed their fate.
One by one, they were seized and slain by the river.
That day, forty-two thousand men of Ephraim fell.
Jephthah ruled Israel for six years.
When his days ended, he was buried in a town of Gilead — the land he had defended, the soil that had both raised and rejected him.
After him came Ibzan of Bethlehem, a man blessed with a great household.
He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. His daughters he sent out in marriage to other clans, and for his sons, he brought home thirty wives from afar.
Ibzan judged Israel seven years before he died and was laid to rest in Bethlehem.
Then came Elon of Zebulun, who led Israel for ten quiet years.
When he died, he was buried in Aijalon, among the hills of Zebulun.
After him rose Abdon son of Hillel from Pirathon.
He was a man of honor and wealth, with forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode seventy donkeys — a sign of peace and prosperity in Israel.
He judged the nation eight years, and when his time was done, Abdon was buried in Pirathon, in the hill country of Ephraim, among the lands once held by the Amalekites.