So why did you show up here today? Are you spoiling for a fight with me?”

4 So Jephthah got his Gilead troops together and fought Ephraim. And the men of Gilead hit them hard because they were saying, “Gileadites are nothing but half breeds and rejects from Ephraim and Manasseh.”

5-6 Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan at the crossing to Ephraim. If an Ephraimite fugitive said, “Let me cross,” the men of Gilead would ask, “Are you an Ephraimite?” and he would say, “No.” And they would say, “Say, ‘Shibboleth.’” But he would always say, “Sibboleth”—he couldn’t say it right. Then they would grab him and kill him there at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two Ephraimite divisions were killed on that occasion. (The Message)

See where pride can lead. How cruel it was; all so unnecessary. Our pride may not lead to cutting people up as such, but to cutting them off, and cutting them through with piercing words. The ‘Bible Gateway’ notes say: ‘The dispute turns deadly, and the Lord’s non-involvement shows that this is an intertribal feud that God has not sanctioned.’

Referring back to the previous trouble with Ephraim (ch.8), Warren Wiersbe says: ‘Jephthah was not as patient and tactful as Gideon, and the result was a civil war that took 42,000 lives. ”See how great a forest a little fire kindles!” (James 3:5).’

He goes on to make this excellent point: ‘The word shibboleth is in the English dictionary and means ”a test for determining if you belong.” If you do not conform exactly to what a group demands, you are rejected. Some Christians make these minor matters a test of spirituality and fellowship and bring division to the church.’

Wiersbe highlights the relevance of Prov.17:14:

”Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”

I also think about James 3:13-18:

”Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17 ‘But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”

‘The chapter closes by contrasting two kinds of wisdom: true biblical wisdom manifests itself in virtues that foster peace rather than division.7 Practically, learning to use words wisely comes from focusing more on the inner life than on the tongue itself, more on the source than its outflow.’ Bible Gateway notes

PRAYER: ‘Make me a channel of your peace…”

”What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:1,2)