What is ironic about the use of the term “fugitives of Ephraim” in this verse?
Judges 12:5 (ESV)
5And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,”
This amounts to a repetition of the phrase “fugitives of Ephraim” in Judges 12:4, where it was an Ephraimite taunt toward the Gileadites. Now the narrator exposes the true fugitives of Ephraim.
5 And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,”