Judges 12:8

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon

8 After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem led Israel.

Judges 12:8 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 12:8

And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
] There were two Bethlehems, one in the tribe of Zebulun, ( Joshua 19:15 ) of which some think this man was; and another in the tribe of Judah, the city of Jesse and David, and of the Messiah; and Josephus says ^F24, Ibzan was of the tribe of Judah, of the city of Bethlehem; and because Boaz was of the same place, and lived in the times of the judges, the Jewish Rabbins ^F25 are of opinion that he is the same with Ibzan; so Jarchi and Ben Gersom.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 13.
F25 T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 91. 1.

Judges 12:8 In-Context

6 they would tell him, "Then say shibboleth." But he would say, "sibboleth," because he couldn't pronounce it correctly. So they would seize him and kill him at the Jordan's crossing points. Forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell at that time.

7 Jephthah led Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the towns in Gilead.

8 After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem led Israel.

9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He married his thirty daughters to those outside his clan, and brought in thirty young women from outside for his sons. He led Israel for seven years.

10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.