What word could the Ephraimites not pronounce?

shibboleth
The sentries asked each person who wanted to cross the river to say the word shibboleth. The Ephraimites, who had no sh sound in their language, pronounced the word with an s and were thereby unmasked as the enemy and slaughtered.

How many Ephraimites were killed because they pronounced the word shibboleth as sibboleth?

Forty-two thousand Ephraimites
‘” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

Why do you think the word shibboleth is difficult for the Ephraimites?

When the Ephraimites sought to cross the Jordan River to return home, each was asked to pronounce the word “shibboleth.” The “sh” sound did not exist in the Ephraimite dialect, and thus, the Ephraimites pronounced the word in a way that, to Gileadites, sounded like “sibboleth.” According to Judges 12:5-6 KJV, “Say now …

What does shibboleth mean in the Bible?

A shibboleth (/ˈʃɪbəlɛθ, -ɪθ/ ( listen); Biblical Hebrew: שִׁבֹּלֶת‎, romanized: šībōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another.

Who killed the men of Ephraim when they could not pronounce shibboleth?

Jephthah’s army defeats them and cuts off their escape back to Ephraim. A tragic number of Ephraimites are killed in the civil war between the two peoples of Israel. Jephthah dies and is followed by three lesser-known judges: Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulunite, and Abdon of Pirathon.

What tribe is Ephraim?

Ephraim, one of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times comprised the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after one of the younger sons of Joseph, himself a son of Jacob.