Judges 12:8

8 After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem was a judge for 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 say to him, "Say the word 'Shibboleth.'" The men of Ephraim could not say that word correctly. So if the person from Ephraim said, "Sibboleth," the men of Gilead would kill him at the crossing. So forty-two thousand people from Ephraim were killed at that time.

7 Jephthah was a judge for Israel for six years. Then Jephthah, the man from Gilead, died and was buried in a town in Gilead. Ibzan, the Judge

8 After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem was a judge for Israel.

9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He let his daughters marry men who were not in his family group, and he brought thirty women who were not in his tribe to be wives for his sons. Ibzan judged Israel for seven years.

10 Then he died and was buried in Bethlehem. Elon, the Judge