The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn't call us to go with you? we will burn your house on you with fire.
"Shibboleth ... Sibboleth"  (Judges 12:6).  It is amazing that scholars have found no consensus whatever on the meaning of this word.  F. F. Bruce gave the meaning as, "a stream in flood."[8]  Yates gave it as, "an ear of corn."[9]  Of course, it is not the meaning of this word that was important, but the pronunciation of it.  The Ephraimites here, like Peter in the N.T.  (Matthew 26:73), were betrayed by their speech.  The Ephraimites were unable to pronounce the "sh," pronouncing it as "s" instead.  Boling states that, "As late as World War II, the Dutch underground was able to screen out German spies by asking them to pronounce the name of the Dutch city Sheveningen, which only the Dutch can do properly."[10]  Dalglish mentioned that also, "There is a general inability among the Germans to pronounce the `th' in `thither'."[11]  Speaking of the tragic results of this bloody war, Campbell noted that, "Many times since that sad event, strife among the people of God has occurred because of the same sort of pride, jealousy and hurt feelings."[12]  As a result of this smashing defeat of Ephraim, that tribe's influence was definitely checkmated until the times of the death of Solomon and the division of the kingdom of Israel.