Judges 12:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

NIV: Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

NASB: Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

CSB: and when he died, he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

NLT: When he died, he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

KJV: And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.

NKJV: Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites.

The life of the eleventh judge described in the book of Judges ends. Abdon, the son of a man named Hillel, came from a town in the Ephraim hills known as Pirathon. He judged Israel for just eight years before his death and burial at Pirathon.

In addition to being in the land of Ephraim, Pirathon is said to have been in the hill country of the Amalekites. No explanation is given for this description. Scholars speculate that maybe the Amalekites left some remnant of their people in this area during their former oppression of Israel. Or, perhaps, Israel had some trouble with the Amalekites again during the time of Abdon.

Abdon's death will be followed by another return, by Israel, to betrayal of the Lord (Judges 2:17–19). This will once again result in their suffering under the hand of their enemies, and the Lord raising up another judge to save them.

Judges 12:8–15 briefly names three men who follow Jephthah as judges. These, along with men like Shamgar (Judges 3:31), Tola (Judges 10:1), and Jair (Judges 10:3) are sometimes called "minor" or "secondary" judges since so little is known about them. This passage mentions Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon of Zebulun, and Abdon of Pirathon.

Jephthah's controversial term as judge continues. The men of Ephraim arrive, armed for war and demanding to know why they weren't invited to fight against the Ammonites. They insult Gilead and threaten Jephthah. Jephthah's army defeats them and cuts off their escape back to Ephraim. A tragic number of Ephraimites are killed in the civil war between the two peoples of Israel. Jephthah dies and is followed by three lesser-known judges: Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulunite, and Abdon of Pirathon.

Judges 12 follows Jephthah's terrible task of fulfilling his foolish vow, which costs him his only child. Now he faces an unexpected confrontation from the men of Ephraim. They cross over the Jordan from the west, threatening to kill Jephthah for not including them in the fight against the Ammonites and taunting the people of Gilead. Jephthah defeats the men of Ephraim, killing many in a civil war. Jephthah is followed as judge by Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulunite, and Abdon of Pirathon. This leads to the introduction of another infamous biblical figure: Samson.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).

Accessed 5/6/2024 7:01:59 AM