Metaphysical meaning of Shibboleth (mbd)
Shibboleth, shib-bo-leth (Heb.)--an ear of grain; copiously flowing; stream; flood; channel of a stream; heavy downpour; cloudburst.
A word that the Gileadites under Jephthah, after taking the fords of the Jordan, asked each man to say who desired to pass over. The Ephraimites, who had just been defeated by the Gileadites, could not pronounce the "sh," but said "Sibboleth." Thus they were detected and slain (Judg. 12:6).
Meta. A great inflow of new life into consciousness (stream, flood, copiously flowing) and a renewed consciousness of substance (an ear of grain) that cannot be comprehended, assimilated, or withstood by the will established in intellectual thought (the Ephraimites in this instance).
The human will is not able of itself to deliver the individual from all his inner enemies, yet it does not seem to understand that there are spiritual qualities within one with which it should work, qualities that can go ahead and gain victories over error without the conscious cooperation of the will (see Judges 12:2, 3)
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