Lange Commentary - Judges 12:8 - 12:15

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Lange Commentary - Judges 12:8 - 12:15


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

EIGHTH SECTION

three judges of uneventful lives in peaceful times: ibzan of bethlehem, elon the zebulonite, and abdon the pirathonite

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Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulonite, and Abdon the Pirathonite

Jdg_12:8-15

8And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel. 9And he had thirty sons [,] and thirty daughters whom [omit: whom] he sent abroad [sent out, i. e. gave in marriage], and took in [brought home] thirty daughters from abroad for his sons: and he judged Israel seven years. 10Then died Ibzan [And Ibzan died], and was buried at Bethlehem. 11And after him Elon, a [the] Zebulonite, judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun. 13And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a [the] Pirathonite, judged Israel. 14And he had forty sons and thirty nephews [grandsons], that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. 15And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites [Amalekite].

EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL

The special value of the notices concerning these three Judges consists in the contrast which they offer to the fortunes of Jephthah. These three all have what Jephthah had not. They all have children in abundance, and are happy in them (Psa_127:3 ff.). Ibzan has thirty daughters, whom he gives in marriage, and thirty daughters-in-law. Abdon, likewise, has forty sons, and looks on thirty flourishing grandsons. The people is familiar with the places of their nativity, and knows where their sepulchres are. Indeed, some of these places, even with their old names, are not lost to this day. For even the native place of Ibzan, although it was not the celebrated Bethlehem, but another in Zebulun (Jos_19:15), has in our day been identified as Beit Lahm by Robinson (iii. 113). Keil’s remark that we are not to think here of the Bethlehem in Judah, must indeed be allowed, although the Jewish legend does think of it and identifies Ibzan with Boaz. But that this Bethlehem always appears with the addition “in Judah” (so also in Jdg_17:7), has its ground in the very fact that the other Bethlehem was not unknown. The definition “in Judah” could here be the less omitted because the next Judge also belonged to Zebulun.

Aijalon also, the place where Elon, the second mentioned Judge, is said to have died, and where he probably also resided, seems to be recognized in Jalûn, a place of ruins (cf. Van de Velde, referred to by Keil). Pirathon, the birthplace of the third Judge, whose name Hillel is a highly celebrated one among the Jews of later times, was already recognized by Esthor ha-Parchi in the modern Fer’ata ( ôøòúä ), and has been rediscovered by Robinson and others (cf. Zunz, in Asher’s Benj. of Tudela, ii. 426; Robinson, iii. 134). They all enjoy in fact every blessing of life of which Jephthah was destitute; we hear of their children, their fathers, and their graves; but of their deeds we hear nothing. They have judged, but not delivered. They enjoyed distinction, because they were rich; but they never rose from the condition of exiled and hated men to the dignity of princes, urged thereto by the humble entreaties of their countrymen. Of them, we know nothing but their wealth; of Jephthah, nothing but his renown. They had herds, but made no sacrifices. Their daughters were married; but the unmarried daughter of Jephthah survives them all as an example of the obedience and faith of every noble maiden heart. They had full houses, and widely known monuments; and Jephthah went from an empty house to an unknown grave: but his name, consecrated by the Apostle’s benediction, shines forevermore as that of a hero of faith. Such contrasts the narrator wishes to rescue from concealment. The heathen Achilles, according to the legend of the Greeks, chose immortal fame in preference to length of life and pleasure. What would we choose, if choice were given us between lbzan or Hillel and Jephthah? Or rather, let us Christians choose the Cross of Him who lives forever!

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

After Gideon and Abimelech, two peaceful Judges are named, concerning whose official life nothing is reported. A similar relation subsists between Jephthah and his successors. The comparison may serve for instruction. The result of Gideon’s deeds was glory and greatness; of Abimelech’s tyranny, terrors and punishment. Both kinds of results were brought to view, for the instruction of the nations, in the career of Jephthah His victory was mighty against those without; his chastisement towards those within. The seed which he sowed in tears, sprang up in joy for others.

The three Judges have everything that Jephthah has not,—children, paternal home, and commemoration of their death. But they have no heroic victory like his, and his only daughter is an example for all time. Jephthah judged only a short time, and died bowed down with grief and loneliness. But neither can prosperity avail to lengthen years. These peaceful Judges judged only seven, ten, and eight years, respectively. How different is Jephthah’s life from theirs! But the kingdom of God does not move onward in tragedies alone, but also in meekness and quietude.

The teachings of God are calculated to serve truth, not to promote human glory. Worldly vanity strives for the immortality of time. It is a strange exhibition of human folly, when great deeds are performed for the sake of the monuments and statues with which they are rewarded. In the kingdom of God, other laws obtain. Jephthah is the great warrior hero; but neither the place of his birth nor that of his death is known. Monuments determine nothing in the history which God writes, but only Godlike deeds. The faithful who have died in God, are followed by their works.

Starke: It is better to bestow celebrity on one’s native land, by virtuous actions, than to derive celebrity from one’s native land.

Footnotes:

The unhistorical character of the legend is the more evident, the more clear it is that chapter 12 treats only of northern heroes, whereas the narratives of southeastern aeroes and struggles begin at chapter 13, and continue ***own to Samuel and David.

It lies on a Tell, which Jdg_12:15 calls the mountain of Amalek, perhaps from Joshua, the conqueror of Amalek, cf. Jdg_5:14.