Have you ever met someone who couldn't pronounce the name of a nearby town or perhaps they just spoke different enough that you could tell that they were from somewhere else?

If so, you have probably learned about shibilis without even knowing it.

These differences in speech have been used to

identify people for centuries. Learn more about shibilis, what they are and how they've

been used throughout history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. My personal relationship with the word shibilith dates back to when I was coaching high school debate in the early 90s.

We were doing research and came across the phrase,

hoary shibilith, and we had no idea what it meant.

Neither are words that you encounter in everyday conversation. The term shibilith actually comes from the Bible.

It comes from the Hebrew word shibilat which refers to the top of a stalk of grain.

However, for this discussion and the meaning of the word in English, its original meaning isn't really relevant.

In the Bible, the word shibilith was used by the ancient Israelis as a sort of password.

It comes from the Book of Judges judges chapter 12 versus 5 and 6. It reads,

the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of

Ephraim said, let me cross over, the men of Gilead asks him, are you an Ephraimite?

If he replied, no, they said, all right, say shibilith.

If he said, Sybilith, because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed

him at the fords of the Jordan.

42,000 Ephraimites were killed at this time.

End quote.

The Ephraimites couldn't pronounce the shah sound because their language didn't have it.

When they tried to say shibilith, they would say sibilith.

The meaning of the word shibilith became associated with any word or phrase that could define a group of people or which could define members of an outgroup.

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