Shibboleth Essay, Research Paper

The Story of the Shibboleth

A shibboleth is a kind of linguistic password: A way of speaking (a pronunciation, or the use of a

particular expression) that identifies one as a member of an ‘in’ group. The purpose of a shibboleth is

exclusionary as much as inclusionary: A person whose way of speaking violates a shibboleth is identified

as an outsider and thereby excluded by the group. (This phenomenon is part of the “Judge a book by its

cover” tendency apparently embedded in human cognition, and the use of language to distinguish social

groups).

The story behind the word is recorded in the biblical Book of Judges. The word shibboleth in ancient

Hebrew dialects meant ‘ear of grain’ (or, some say, ’stream’). Some groups pronounced it with a sh sound,

but speakers of related dialects pronounced it with an s.

In the story, two Semitic tribes, the Ephraimites and the Gileadites, have a great battle. The Gileadites

defeat the Ephraimites, and set up a blockade to catch the fleeing Ephraimites. The sentries asked each

person 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.

Here is the relevant excerpt from the Book of Judges. The full account is in Chapter 12, verses 1-15.

12, 4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the

men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim

among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that

when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said

unto him, art thou an Ephraimite? If he say Nay;

6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame

to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there

fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.