The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Shibboleth
(shb´lth) (KEY) , in the Bible, test word that the Gileadites made the Ephraimites pronounce. As Ephraimites could not say sh but only s as in Sibboleth, this was regarded as a test of an Ephraimite; 42,000 Ephraimites were thus detected.