Judges 12:15
New International Version
Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

New Living Translation
When he died, he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

English Standard Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, died, and he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
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.

NASB 1995
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.

NASB 1977
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.

Legacy Standard Bible
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.

Amplified Bible
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.

Christian Standard Bible
and when he died, he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
and when he died, he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

American Standard Version
And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites.

English Revised Version
And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When Abdon died, he was buried in Pirathon, in the territory of Ephraim, in the mountains of Amalek.

Good News Translation
then he died and was buried at Pirathon in the territory of Ephraim in the hill country of the Amalekites.

International Standard Version
Then he died and was buried at Pirathon in the territory of Ephraim, in the mountainous region of the Amalekites.

Majority Standard Bible
Then Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, died, and he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

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

New Heart English Bible
Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, dies, and is buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekite.

Young's Literal Translation
And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, dieth, and is buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekite.

Smith's Literal Translation
And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite, will die, and will be buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekite.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he died, and was buried in Pharathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of Amalech.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And he died, and he was buried at Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, on the mountain of Amalek.

New American Bible
Abdon, son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim in the mountain region of the Amalekites.

New Revised Standard Version
Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Then Acran the son of Hillian, the Aprathonite died, and was buried in Aprathon in the land of Ephraim on the mount of the Amalekites.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Akran, son of Helyan the Aphrathunite, died, and he was buried in Aphrathun, in the land of Aphreim, in the Mountain of the Amaleqites
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Abdon the son of Ellel, the Pharathonite, died, and was buried in Pharathon in the land of Ephraim in the mount of Amalec.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years. 15Then Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, died, and he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Cross References
Judges 2:16-19
Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. / Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done. / Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them. ...

Judges 3:9-11
But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them. / The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him. / So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Judges 3:15-30
And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. / Now Ehud had made for himself a double-edged sword a cubit long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his cloak / and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man. ...

Judges 4:4-5
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. / And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.

Judges 6:11-14
Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. / And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” / “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” ...

Judges 8:28-32
In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon, / and he—Jerubbaal son of Joash—returned home and settled down. / Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives. ...

Judges 10:1-2
After the time of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose up to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. / Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.

Judges 10:3-5
Tola was followed by Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. / He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair. / When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

Judges 11:1-3
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. / And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.” / So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.

1 Samuel 12:11
So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.

Hebrews 11:32
And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

Acts 13:20
All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

1 Kings 11:26-28
Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king, / and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David. / Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.

1 Chronicles 7:14-15
The descendants of Manasseh: Asriel through his Aramean concubine. She also gave birth to Machir the father of Gilead. / Machir took a wife from among the Huppites and Shuppites. The name of his sister was Maacah. Another descendant was named Zelophehad, who had only daughters.

1 Chronicles 7:21-23
Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son. Ezer and Elead were killed by the natives of Gath, because they went down to steal their livestock. / Their father Ephraim mourned for many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. / And again he slept with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. So he named him Beriah, because tragedy had come upon his house.


Treasury of Scripture

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.

A.

2 Samuel 23:30
Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,

in the mount.

Judges 3:13,27
And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees…

Judges 5:14
Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.

Genesis 14:7
And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.

Jump to Previous
Abdon Amalekite Amalekites Amal'ekites Buried Country Death Died Dieth Ephraim E'phraim Hill Hill-Country Hillel Mount Pirathon Pira'thon Pirathonite Pira'thonite Rest
Jump to Next
Abdon Amalekite Amalekites Amal'ekites Buried Country Death Died Dieth Ephraim E'phraim Hill Hill-Country Hillel Mount Pirathon Pira'thon Pirathonite Pira'thonite Rest
Judges 12
1. The Ephraimites, quarrelling with Jephthah, are slain by the Gileadites
7. Jephthah dies
8. Ibzan, who had thirty sons, and thirty daughters
11. and Elon
13. and Abdon, who had forty sons, and thirty nephews, judge Israel














Then Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, died
Abdon was one of the minor judges of Israel, serving after Elon and before Samson. His role as a judge is briefly mentioned, highlighting the cyclical nature of Israel's leadership during the time of the Judges. The mention of his father, Hillel, suggests a lineage of some prominence, though little else is known about them. The brevity of Abdon's account reflects the period's instability and the frequent changes in leadership. His death marks the end of his judgeship, a common pattern in the Book of Judges where each judge's death often leads to a period of unrest or transition.

and he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim
Pirathon is identified as Abdon's hometown, located in the tribal territory of Ephraim. Ephraim was one of the prominent tribes of Israel, often playing a significant role in the nation's history. The burial in one's hometown was a common practice, signifying a return to one's roots and family heritage. This also emphasizes the importance of tribal and familial connections in ancient Israelite society. The location in Ephraim may also indicate the influence and reach of Abdon's leadership within this central region of Israel.

in the hill country of the Amalekites
The mention of the Amalekites, a perennial enemy of Israel, provides historical context. The hill country of the Amalekites suggests a region that was once under their control or influence, highlighting the ongoing struggle between Israel and surrounding nations. This area, now part of Israelite territory, signifies the gradual conquest and settlement of the Promised Land, fulfilling God's promises to the patriarchs. The presence of the Amalekites in the narrative serves as a reminder of the spiritual and physical battles Israel faced, often seen as a type of the Christian's spiritual warfare against sin and opposition.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Abdon
Abdon was a judge of Israel, the son of Hillel. His leadership is briefly mentioned in the Book of Judges, and he is noted for having forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys, indicating wealth and status.

2. Hillel
The father of Abdon, though not much is known about him, his mention signifies the lineage and heritage of Abdon.

3. Pirathon
A town in the land of Ephraim, which served as the burial place of Abdon. It is significant as a location within the tribal allotment of Ephraim.

4. Ephraim
One of the tribes of Israel, known for its central location in the land of Canaan. It often played a significant role in the history of Israel.

5. Amalekites
A nomadic tribe often in conflict with Israel. The mention of the "hill country of the Amalekites" indicates a region that was once under their influence or control.
Teaching Points
The Transience of Leadership
Abdon's brief mention reminds us of the temporary nature of human leadership. We should focus on the eternal leadership of Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Legacy and Influence
Abdon's family is noted for their wealth and status. Consider what kind of legacy we are leaving behind. Are we investing in spiritual wealth and influence for God's kingdom?

Geographical and Spiritual Context
Understanding the geographical context of biblical events can enhance our comprehension of the spiritual battles faced by Israel. Reflect on the spiritual "territories" in our lives that need reclaiming for God.

The Role of Judges
The judges were raised by God to deliver Israel. This points to God's sovereignty and His provision of leadership in times of need. Trust in God's provision and timing in your own life.(15) In Pirathon.--The city of David's hero, Benaiah (2Samuel 23:30; 1 Maccabees 9:50; Jos. Antt. xiii. 1, ? 3). It is now Feratah, six miles west of Shechem.

In the mount of the Amalekites.--The phrase is explained in Judges 12:14. It points to an early settlement of Amalekites in Central Palestine.

Verse 15. - The mount of the Amalekites. This name points to some incident of which the memory is lost, though, with the usual tenacity of names, the name which once recorded it survives. It may have been some ancient settlement of the Amalekites, who were a very wandering, wide-spread race, which gave the name; or it may have been some great defeat and slaughter which they suffered from the Israelites, whose land they invaded (Judges 6:3, 33), just as the rock Oreb and the wine-press of Zeeb (Judges 7:25) commemorated the victory over those princes.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Abdon
עַבְדּ֥וֹן (‘aḇ·dō·wn)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5658: Abdon -- four Israelites, also a Levitical city

son
בֶּן־ (ben-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Hillel,
הִלֵּ֖ל (hil·lêl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1985: Hillel -- 'he has praised', father of a judge of Israel

from Pirathon,
הַפִּרְעָתוֹנִ֑י (hap·pir·‘ā·ṯō·w·nî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6553: Pirathonite -- inhabitant of Pirathon

died,
וַיָּ֛מָת (way·yā·māṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

and he was buried
וַיִּקָּבֵ֤ר (way·yiq·qā·ḇêr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6912: To inter

at Pirathon
בְּפִרְעָתוֹן֙ (bə·p̄ir·‘ā·ṯō·wn)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6552: Pirathon -- perhaps 'height', a place in Ephraim

in
בְּאֶ֣רֶץ (bə·’e·reṣ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

Ephraim,
אֶפְרַ֔יִם (’ep̄·ra·yim)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 669: Ephraim -- a son of Joseph, also his descendants and their territory

in the hill country
בְּהַ֖ר (bə·har)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2022: Mountain, hill, hill country

of the Amalekites.
הָעֲמָלֵקִֽי׃ (hā·‘ă·mā·lê·qî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6003: Amalekites -- descendants of Amalek


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OT History: Judges 12:15 Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 12:14
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