Ibzan became the next judge of Israel after Jephthah. If you count Jephthah, Izban was the 10th judge of Israel. If you don’t count Jephthah’s reign over part of Israel; Izban was the 9th judge.
He ruled for seven years.
WELCOME
Welcome to the weekly on-line bible study we call COME AS A CHILD. We are walking through the bible together page by page as laypeople who desire to approach God with a child’s heart, eager to learn more of our Father.
If you wish to receive all of our lessons by e-mail, simply fill in the information at the “submit” button at the top of this page.
Today’s lesson is a continuation of our walk through The Book of Judges and our study continues from Judges Chapter 12.
A MAN OF MANY WIVES AND CHILDREN
This judge must have had many wives because the scriptures tell us he had thirty sons and thirty daughters. I’m sure one woman would not have been capable of producing this huge family all alone. Izban must have married many times.
What a large family he had! I would hate to have to buy all of their Thanksgiving groceries. Izban must have been a wealthy man.
ALLIANCES THROUGH FAMILY TIES
The alliances these many children allowed through their marriages into the other clans of Israel became an important tool that Izban used to unite the people of Israel around his rulership.
I don’t think judges were elected by popular vote in those days, but if they were I would suspect Ibzan was having a great time simply producing more relatives and patiently looking after them in order to gain more power and popularity in the land. Maybe he was the first person to employ public relations work.
A BLESSED MAN
Izban brings a whole new meaning to the word “fruitful.” It is hard to imagine that he would have time to run a nation while he had so much family to attend too. Most likely he also invented multi-tasking. Obviously, he was blessed with great servants and busy and loyal wives.
Not only did he have this huge amount of immediate family, he also gave his sons and daughters away in marriage to people who were outside of his clan. Thus; he grew his own clan immensely by bringing members of other clans into his family.
There would have been 120 (plus whatever amount of wives Izban married) immediate family members after everyone married. You can also add their children and grandchildren to the family numbers. Izban’s motto seemed to be “the more the merrier.”
UNITING A NATION THROUGH BUILDING A FAMILY
Can’t you imagine how even the most popular local mountain became a bit crowded whenever they decided to have a family reunion?
Conversation around their table must have been interesting and amazing. Can you imagine the cultural topics they must have covered? I have this vision of many different styles of people loving and living together. The house must have always been full of laughter and support.
I suspect that Izban was very good and loyal to his immediate family members and their numbers alone would have kept him in power for the seven years that he reigned over Israel. No one would dare oppose someone who had enough family to run a small army.
NO MILITARY CAMPAIGNS DURING IZBAN’S RULE
Despite the fact that he had an army for a family, there were no military campaigns or major wars during the reign of Izban.
Maybe his foreign wives and wives from other clans helped to keep the peace among the country during that day and time of Israel’s history. This was definitely a family that displayed multi-cultural tendencies.
ACTING IN THE CAPACITY OF A LAWYER/JUDGE
Most of Izban’s time as a judge was devoted to dispute resolution and arbitration. I’m sure many family members carried disputes to his courts. There would have been constant petty struggles and “Papa’s” last word would have been the answer to all the squabbles of so many humans living in one place.
SUCH A CONTRAST TO JEPHTHAH
It is interesting to note the contrasts we can see between Izban’s and Jephthah’s lives.
Jephthah murdered his own daughter, therefore cutting off his only chance for lineage or heritage in the land. Izban kept multiplying his family in a million different ways, creating unions between his clan and all of Israel.
This contrast was timely and seemed to bring peace and prosperity to the land where Jephthah’s fighting brought constant turmoil, fierce wars and on-going troubles.
Israelites often refer to Izban as being “blessed” and to Jephthah as being “cursed.”
The union that Izban’s alliances brought to the Israelites played an important role in the days which came after the short rule of Izban. This union brought many opposing parties together and the nation seemed united into one team again.
COULD IZBAN HAVE BEEN BOAZ?
Israel’s history speaks highly of another man who often brought opposing parties together and resolved family matters between them. His name was Boaz. Boaz lived in this very same time period as Izban, as a matter of fact many suspect that the two men might have been the same person.
It is interesting to read of Izban in the Talmud, because in those readings he is often associated with Boaz.
The Boaz spoken of in the Talmud settled in Bethlehem of Judah and lived with a wife named Ruth.
RUTH OF THE TALMUD
The Talmud tells the story of Ruth and Boaz with a slightly different ending than what we read from the Book of Ruth in our bibles.
It explains that Boaz died on the night that he consummated his marriage with Ruth. Is this simply some Rabbi’s suspicion of forgotten history? Was this added to make the story have more meaning (I’m not sure the story COULD have more meaning since it is already FULL of amazing facts.)
Could these two men really be the same person? The historical records are not clear enough for us to discern the truth of the matter. It would be a very interesting coincidence indeed.
All we know for sure is that Izban died and he was buried in Bethlehem. We know that the places and times are accurate enough to support the legend.
I suppose that story about Izban will remain a mystery until Christ returns.