Avdon in Divrei Hayamim???

A strange idea just came to mind:

In the past, some scholars have proposed identifying the minor judge Avdon ben Hillel (Shoftim 12:13-15) with the minor judge Bedan (Shmuel 1:12:11), because of the similarity of the name Bedan (בדן) with the end of Avdon's name (בדון), and the fact that Shmuel nonchalantly mentions Bedan though we the modern-day readers, have no earthly idea who he is. It's a fascinating proposal.

I found myself thinking about this on Shabbat and today, and suddenly realized that Pir'aton, the hometown of Avdon, is in Menashe (having previously thought for some reason that it was in Ephraim). This is significant because Divrei Hayamim 1:7:17 mentions a descendant of Machir, son of Menashe, named Bedan! I have yet to check whether the chronology works out, but the possibility of another reference to Avdon/Bedan in Tanach is tantalizing. I'm probably not the first to wonder about this connection, though. But it's late and I'm typing from my phone, so I haven't fully looked into this.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 8, 2025 at 6:42 AM

    I don't know about that. I see on Wikipedia (Hebrew and English) where there are claims that Piraton is in Menashe, but Shoftim 12:15 pretty openly calls it part of ארץ אפרים.

    Chronologically, Bedan (of Divrei Hayamim) = Avdon may not work so well either, since he's given there as a great-grandson of Machir, though of course generations might well be skipped in the listing there as they often are. More to the point, though, it would also mean proposing that Avdon's father Hillel was also known as Ulam.

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