Judges 12:8

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 to say "Shibboleth." But he would say "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they would grab him and kill him there at one of the Jordan River crossings. At that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites were killed.

7 Jephthah led Israel for six years. Then he died and was buried in his hometown in Gilead.

8 After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem led Israel.

9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters in marriage outside the clan and brought thirty young women from outside the clan for his sons to marry. Ibzan led Israel for seven years,

10 then he died and was buried at Bethlehem.