EXPOSITION
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.
He had thirty sons, etc. From no record of Ibzan's judgeship being preserved, except this domestic incident, we may infer, as in the ease of Jair, that no important events took place in his time.
Then died, etc. Render, And Ibzan died.
In Aijalon. Not Aijalon in the tribe of Dan, mentioned Joshua 10:12; Joshua 19:42, but another city, only spoken of here, whose name is probably preserved in the ruins of Jalun, four hours east of Akka. It is remarkable that the two names Elon and Aijalon are identical in Hebrew as far as the consonants are concerned. It looks as if Aijalon, which is not mentioned among the Zebulonite cities in Joshua 19:10-6, was named from Elon, its possessor.
A Pirathonite, i.e. an inhabitant of Pirathon in the tribe of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites (Judges 12:15), afterwards famous as the birthplace of Benaiah, one of David's mighty men (2 Samuel 23:30). The Pharathon which is mentioned in 1 Macc. 9:50, and by Josephus, following its authority, as fortified by Jonathan the brother of Judas may have been the same, though its collocation between Titans and Tekoah rather suggests a more southern position; and the Ferata found by Robinson between two and three hours from Samaria, south-south-west, on the way to Jerusalem, seems certainly to represent Pirathon.
Nephews. Rather, grandsons. Hebrew, son's son. The number of his family, and their being all mounted on asses, are indications of his wealth and state (see above, Judges 8:30; Judges 10:4), and perhaps also of peaceful and prosperous times.
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, Judges 6:33), just as the rock Oreb and the wine-press of Zeeb (Judges 7:25) commemorated the victory over those princes.
HOMILETICS
The calm after the storm.
Jephthah's day of life had been a stormy one indeed. The strife with his own brethren; the strife with the children of Ammon; the strife between nature and superstition, and the throbbings of a distracted heart; the strife with the tribe of Ephraim, and the strife with a premature death under which he sunk, marked him as a "man of strife" (Judges 12:2 in the Hebrew, and Jeremiah 15:10) all his days, both him and "his people." But now there came quiet, uneventful days both for Israel and his rulers. There is no mention of foreign foe or of domestic discord. Scenes of family life take the place of the martial muster and the bloody fight. There is nothing to record save how long the judges judged, when they died, and where they were buried. We infer, indeed, from the fact that there were judges the continual care of God for his people, and from the absence of invasion and servitude we infer that the people did not forsake God. But more than this we do not know, nor over how great a part of Israel these judgeships did extend. But the reflection cannot but arise that it is not good for a people to be in continual strife. Struggles for supremacy over enemies without, and conflict for the settlement of government at home, should have their term, and give way to enjoyment of prosperity and peace. The happiest times in a nation's life are not always those that shine the brightest on the page of history. And so in the life of the individual. Though the surface of his life be not ruffled, nor its tenor varied by any startling changes, there may be a hidden work of God going on in the soul more momentous than the gain or loss of fortunes, or any vicissitudes of sickness and of health. Faith may be waxing stronger, and love may be burning brighter; patience may be perfecting her work, and the spirit of meekness may be steadily gaining ground over the spirit of wrath and intolerance; the knowledge of Jesus Christ may be filling the field of the soul's vision, and the kingdom of heaven may be drawing nearer to the soul's embrace, and yet the outward life may be monotonous and uneventful. Anyhow let us use the calm and untempestuous moments of our life to make undisturbed progress in the great business of our salvation; and in the assurance of God's unwearied love let us pursue our own quiet round of meditation, and prayer, and praise. Great events and mighty deeds figure on the page of history, but the soul's progress in holiness is worthy to be recorded by an angel's pen.
Cf. on Judges 10:1-7.—M.