then said they to him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he couldn't manage to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand.
Jephthah opened his mouth wisely again and replied that he had indeed requested their help, but they had not responded (Judges 12:2). This did not satisfy the Ephraimites, however, who mobilized a large fighting force to teach the Gileadites a lesson. These proud Israelites wanted to dominate, to control, and to receive recognition among their brethren. They evidently regarded the Gileadites as "fugitives" (Judges 12:4) because they had settled east of the Jordan River.