Commentary for Judges 12:6
וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ לוֹ֩ אֱמָר־נָ֨א שִׁבֹּ֜לֶת וַיֹּ֣אמֶר סִבֹּ֗לֶת וְלֹ֤א יָכִין֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר כֵּ֔ן וַיֹּאחֲז֣וּ אוֹת֔וֹ וַיִּשְׁחָט֖וּהוּ אֶל־מַעְבְּר֣וֹת הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן וַיִּפֹּ֞ל בָּעֵ֤ת הַהִיא֙ מֵֽאֶפְרַ֔יִם אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וּשְׁנַ֖יִם אָֽלֶף׃
then said they unto him: ‘Say now Shibboleth’; and he said ‘Sibboleth’; for he could not frame to pronounce it right; then they laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan; and there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.
Rashi on Judges
Say Shiboles please. May I cross this river flow?1Shiboles” is translated as “flow”.
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Radak on Judges
Shibboleth (שִׁבֹּלֶת) – Just as they would test them with this word, so too they would test them with ever word that has a שׁ (shin) in it, and the Ephrathites would read it as שׂ (sin), and the text chose one of the words. And some say that he chose the word "שבולת" (shibboleth) because there was a flowing stream (shibboleth nahar) in the place where the Ephraimites were crossing, who would stutter on the letter שׁ (shin). Maybe the climate of their land was a factor! This is like the people of France, who do not understand how to read שׁ (shin) and read it like a weak תֿ (thaw).
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Rashi on Judges
They were not proficient in proper pronunciation. They were speech deficient.
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