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Judges 12:9

in Judges 12

He had thirty sons, as well as thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage to men outside his clan; and for his sons he brought back thirty wives from elsewhere. Ibzan judged Israel seven years.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent abroad, and thirty daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

KJV

And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

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This verse in Judges 12

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

And after him Ibzan of

on Judges 12:8-15

Three judges close the chapter and what is recorded of them is households and graves rather than an enemy, which is how the book marks its quiet stretches; Adam Clarke counts twenty-five years of peace across the three. Abdon's forty sons and thirty nephews, which in this English means grandsons, ride seventy ass colts, and Jair's thirty sons rode thirty at 10:4, so standing is counted here in mounts and in marriages. Ibzan sent thirty daughters out and took thirty in, and which Bethlehem he came from is unsettled, since Joshua 19:15 puts one in Zebulun while Josephus places him in Judah, and the rabbis quoted by John Gill identify him with Boaz on the strength of the town. Abdon is buried in the mount of the Amalekites inside Ephraim at verse 15, an Amalekite name left standing in Israel's hill country, and Deborah's song at 5:14 already set Ephraim's name against Amalek.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

What a difference between his and his predecessor's family! Ibzan had sixty children, and all married: Jephthah but one, and she dies unmarried. Some are increased, others diminished: all is the Lord's doing.
And he had thirty sons and thirty daughters,.... Which was a very uncommon case for a man to have so many children, and those as to their sex to be equal. Between the former judge and him there was a great difference, in respect of this circumstance of children; he had but one daughter, an only child; and she, by reason of his vow, not suffered to marry. Such a difference does God, in his all wise Providence, make even among good men: nor is this any certain characteristic of a good man.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיְהִי־and it belonged

    vayhi-H1961 →3559 times

  • ל֞וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםthirty

    sheloshimH7970 →172 times

  • בָּנִ֗יםsons

    banimH1121 →4930 times

  • וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֤יםand thirty

    usheloshimH7970 →172 times

  • בָּנוֹת֙daughters

    banotH1323 →588 times

  • שִׁלַּ֣חhe sent away

    shilachH7971 →845 times

  • הַח֔וּצָהthe outside towards

    hachutzahH2351 →164 times

  • וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםand thirty

    usheloshimH7970 →172 times

  • בָּנ֔וֹתdaughters

    banotH1323 →588 times

  • הֵבִ֥יאhe brought

    hevi'H935 →2568 times

  • לְבָנָ֖יוfor sons his

    levanavH1121 →4930 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַח֑וּץthe outside

    hachutzH2351 →164 times

  • וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֥טand he judged

    vaiyishpotH8199 →202 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • שֶׁ֥בַעseven

    sheva'H7651 →394 times

  • שָׁנִֽים׃years

    shanimH8141 →877 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Judges 12:14

    He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.

    it leads to

    • Judges 5:10

      You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Judges 10:4

      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.

  • Through

    Judges 10:4

    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.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 32:41

      Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair.

    • Judges 12:14

      He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.

    • Deuteronomy 3:14

      Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself, Havvoth-jair, by which it is called to this…

About Judges

The Death of Samson, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Death of Samson, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 12 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.

Read on in Judges 12 →