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Journey of a Passage

Judges 12:6

Shibboleth in Greek and Latin

The Hebrew records the two pronunciations, shibboleth and sibboleth. Translators into languages without the distinction had a problem. The library's Greek translates the word as "ear of grain" and drops the sound; Jerome keeps both forms and explains them.

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original JudgesUnknown (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Judges
Greek
  1. Septuagint (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BCTranslated from a Hebrew text of the 2nd century BC
Latin
  1. Jerome's Vulgatec. AD 400Translated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

What the verse shows

Dialect
Gileadite and Ephraimite Hebrew differed in at least one sibilant.
Phonetics
Whether Ephraimites said s, th, or another sound is reconstructed and debated.
Translation
Greek and Latin had no letter for sh, so translators had to explain or paraphrase.

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (debated)

    Original Judges

    – No copy survives

    No original survives.

  2. Translated c. 2nd century BC

    Septuagint (library text: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of the 2nd century BC

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Prononce épi; et il le prononçait mal

    Say 'ear of grain'; and he pronounced it badly

    The word is translated, not transliterated. One Greek text via Giguet's French; Greek A and B not checked separately.

  3. c. AD 400

    Jerome's Vulgate

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Dic ergo Scibboleth, quod interpretatur Spica. Qui respondebat: Sibboleth

    Say then Scibboleth, which means 'ear of grain'. He answered: Sibboleth

    Jerome adds an explanation.

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Judges

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    אֱמָר־נָא שִׁבֹּלֶת וַיֹּאמֶר סִבֹּלֶת

    Say now shibboleth; and he said sibboleth

    שׁ (sh) versus ס (s).

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth

    Follows the Hebrew.

What changed, and why

A translation problem, not a manuscript variant.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe library's Greek translates the word as "ear of grain." One Greek text via Giguet's French; Greek A and B not checked separately.

Sources

  • E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)

Related lessons

  • Shibboleth and the Minor Judges →Ephraim threatens to burn Jephthah's house for not calling them to the war. Gilead fights back and holds the Jordan fords; anyone who cannot pronounce "shibboleth" is killed. Then three more brief judges: Ibzan with thirty sons and thirty daughters, Elon, and Abdon with seventy riders on donkeys.
  • Journey of a Passage: Ancient Judges Texts →A guide to the passages in Judges where ancient copies and translations differ, or where the difference is between two compositions rather than two copies. Each has its own passage page with the witnesses laid out side by side.