Judges 12:8

And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) Ibzan.—Nothing more is known of Ibzan than is detailed in these three verses. The notion that Ibhtsam (אבצו) is the same as Boaz (בֹּ֫עַז) has nothing to support it.

Of Beth-lehem.—Usually assumed, as by Josephus (Antt. v. 7, § 13), to be Bethlehem in Judah. There are, however, two reasons against the identification: (1) That Bethlehem is even in this book distinguished as Bethlehem Judah (Judges 17:7; Judges 17:9; Ruth 1:2; 1Samuel 17:12), or Bethlehem Ephratah (Micah 5:1); (2) Judah seems at this epoch to have stood entirely aloof from the general life of the nation. There was a Bethlehem in Zebulon (Joshua 19:15), and as the next judge was a Zebulonite (Judges 12:11), and that tribe had been recently powerful and prominent (Judges 4:10; Judges 5:18), it may be the town here intended.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:8-15 We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Saviour while we live, and to die at peace with God and man, form the substance of all that a wise man can desire.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ibzan of Bethlehem - Some have fancied him the same as Boaz Ruth 2:1 of Bethlehem-Judah. Others, from the juxtaposition of Elon the Zebulonite Judges 12:11, understand Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulon Joshua 19:15.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7. Jephthah died—After a government of six years, this mighty man of valor died; and however difficult it may be for us to understand some passages in his history, he has been ranked by apostolic authority among the worthies of the ancient church. He was followed by a succession of minor judges, of whom the only memorials preserved relate to the number of their families and their state [Jud 12:8-15].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of Beth-lehem; either that in Judah, of which Matthew 2:6; or that in Zebulun, Joshua 19:15.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 (x), 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 (y) are of opinion that he is the same with Ibzan; so Jarchi and Ben Gersom.

(x) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 13. (y) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 91. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

And after him {f} Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

(f) Some think that this was Boaz the husband of Ruth.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. Ibzan] His tribe or family is not mentioned. His city was probably not the Beth-lehem in Judah, because the Bk of Judges is not concerned with Judah; but the Beth-lehem in Zebulun (Joshua 19:15), now Bçt-laḥm, 7 m. N.W. of Nazareth.

8–15. The three last Minor Judges

See introduction to ch. 10

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - Ibzan of Bethlehem. It is uncertain whether Bethlehem of Judah is meant, or Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebu-lun, mentioned in Joshua 19:15. Josephus says that Ibzan was of the tribe of Judah, and of the city of Bethlehem, and some have supposed a connection between the names of Boaz and Ibzan. ' But as Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah is generally called Bethlehem of Judah, or Bethlehem-Ephratah, and as Elon and Abdon were judges in North-East Israel, it is perhaps more probable that Bethlehem of Zebulun is meant. Dr. Robinson has identified it with a village - a "very miserable one" - called Beit Lahm, six miles west of Nazareth. Judges 12:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Of these three judges no particular deeds are related, just as in the case of Tola and Jair (see the remarks on Judges 10:1). But it certainly follows from the expression אחריו ויּשׁפּט (Judges 12:8, Judges 12:11, Judges 12:13) that they were one after another successors of Jephthah, and therefore that their office of judge also extended simply over the tribes on the east of the Jordan, and perhaps the northern tribes on this side.

Judges 12:8-10

Ibzan sprang from Bethlehem,-hardly, however, the town of that name in the tribe of Judah, as Josephus affirms (Ant. v. 7, 13), for that is generally distinguished either as Bethlehem "of Judah" (Judges 17:7, Judges 17:9; Ruth 1:2; 1 Samuel 17:12), or Bethlehem Ephratah (Micah 5:1), but probably Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 9:15). He had thirty sons and thirty daughters, the latter of whom he sent away החוּצה (out of his house), i.e., gave them in marriage, and brought home thirty women in their places from abroad as wives for his sons. He judged Israel seven years, and was buried in Bethlehem.