ABDON

(Abʹdon) [servile].

1. A judge, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite of Ephraim. (Judg. 12:13-15) According to Josephus, his rule of eight years was one of peace, and the Bible record gives no mention of wars during that period. Abdon’s forty sons and thirty grandsons all “rode on seventy full-grown asses,” a sign of considerable wealth and rank at that time. At the end of his judgeship Abdon was buried in his native Ephraim.

Some would connect Abdon with “Bedan,” mentioned at 1 Samuel 12:11; however, Bedan is more likely identified with Barak, whose name appears in this text in both the Septuagint and the Syriac Peshitta Version.

2. A Benjamite, firstborn son of Jeiel and evidently a brother of Ner, Saul’s grandfather.—1 Chron. 8:30; 9:36, 39.

3. An official in King Josiah’s court (2 Chron. 34:20), called Achbor at 2 Kings 22:12.—See ACHBOR No. 2.

4. A son of Shashak of the tribe of Benjamin; a headman dwelling in Jerusalem.—1 Chron. 8:23-28.

5. One of four cities in the territory of Asher given to the Levites of the family of Gershon. (Josh. 21:27-30; 1 Chron. 6:71-74) It is identified with Khirbet ʽAbdeh about four miles (6.4 kilometers) E of Achzib. Abdon lies on the N side of the Wadi Qarn and at the foot of the hills of Galilee, and hence near the northern end of the plain of Asher.