And after him Elon, the Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.
After Jephthah, the book of Judges slows to a bare list of names. Elon gets one sentence — a tribe, a title, ten years. Why does God keep a record of a leader whose deeds He never records?
Elon follows a great deliverer without being one himself. One writer sees two kinds of leader in the book:
When things are morally low, God uses instruments that are imperfect in themselves and carry the marks of weakness… The book also names other judges who are rich, influential, or prosperous (Judges 10:1-4; Judges 12:8-15). God certainly uses them, but more to keep results already won than to deliver.
Ten years of holding ground is still God's work. It is a different job from Jephthah's.
The silence is not only about Elon. It covers the people he led, and that matters:
Times of outward prosperity are not the most profitable for the people of God. The personal importance of the judges comes out, but not the condition of Israel. We know who they were and what they did, but nothing of what was going on in the heart and conscience of the people. So as soon as the last of these judges died, Israel fell back into its old condition (Judges 13:1)… How do we use the matching days of peace the Lord allows us to have? Do we strengthen ourselves in the truths God has given us? Or do we fall asleep in comfortable surroundings, only to be woken suddenly when Satan attacks again, and to find ourselves powerless in front of the enemy? Those who are not fed cannot fight.
The verse gives us little more than a name and a tribe. So writers look at what both mean. Elon's name points to the oak:
Elon, the "oak," comes next. His name implies strength that is the fruit of life and growth. Growth by the truth fits the second place well, and Elon is again a Zebulunite. The record says nothing else about him, except that he judged Israel ten years and was buried in Aijalon.
Another writer draws meaning from the tribe name, and puts Elon in a sequence:
Zebulun is the tribe that speaks of abiding in communion with God. And Elon, the "strong," shows how strength comes after purity, and prosperity comes in that way.
Elon's one recorded act is that he judged. So what does government among God's people take? Firmness, not softness:
There must be strength in the government of the people of God. It is sheer madness to ignore this. It is worse — it is harmful evil — to argue for carelessness or unfaithfulness to the principles of divine truth. God's house must be kept in order with a firm hand. Indifference to the will of God is unthinkable. Where it is allowed, the testimony to Christ is finished.
One writer takes Elon with the judges on either side of him, and looks past his ten years:
Ibzan means "shining" or "splendour." Elon means "strength." Abdon means "service," and he is the son of Hillel, whose name means "praising." These three give us a small glimpse of "Him who will come in splendor and in strength" — that is, "in power and great glory," to set things right. Then all strife and disorder will end and happy service and praise will follow.
- Maintain. Elon was not raised up to fight. He held what an earlier victory had won — work God uses, though it makes no headlines.
- Dwell. His tribe, Zebulun, stands for abiding communion with God — the root that strength grows from.
- Strength. His name means the oak: strength that comes from life and growth, not from a sudden burst of power. It has to show in firm government, because carelessness about God's order ends the testimony to Christ.
- Watch. The quiet decade tells us nothing about the people's hearts. Israel collapsed as soon as the last of these judges died. Peace is time for feeding, because the unfed cannot fight.
- Coming. Shining, strength, service, praise: these names give a glimpse of the One who will come in power and great glory to set all things right.
And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Ajalon in the land of Zebulun.
Judges 12:12 closes the account of a man Scripture tells us almost nothing about: his tribe, his ten years of rule, and the plot of ground where his people buried him. Does a record this bare carry any lesson at all, or is it just a line in a register?
Scripture gives little more than labels for the judges who follow Jephthah. One commentator faces that head-on: if these names mean nothing, the passage teaches nothing.
Very briefly indeed we now have the account of Jephthah's successors. The quiet of twenty-five years after his death was no doubt the result of his victory. In the same way, these men seem to represent the spiritual consequences, in their names and their connections. We have almost nothing except names here. So if these names are meaningless, the history as a whole can be little else. So any escape from that conclusion is welcome — any light where otherwise all must be darkness… There are three successors. The first two are Zebulonites; the third is apparently an Ephraimite.
Commentators differ a little on the exact sense of the name, but they agree it points to strength. One takes it as "oak," and points to a strength that grows.
Elon, the "oak," comes next. The name implies strength that is the product of life and growth. Growth by the truth fits the second place well, and Elon is again a Zebulonite. Nothing else is recorded of him except that he judged Israel ten years and was buried in Aijalon.
Another reads the name as "the strong," and places Elon in a sequence that begins with purity.
After him you have Elon the Zebulonite, who judged Israel for ten years, and there is nothing mentioned except that he judged them. Zebulun is the tribe that speaks of abiding in communion with God. And Elon, the "strong," shows how after purity comes strength, and in that way prosperity.
Samuel Ridout presses that strength into the present, and warns what happens where it is missing.
There must be strength in the government of the people of God. It is sheer madness to ignore this. It is worse — it is harmful evil — to plead for carelessness or unfaithfulness to the principles of divine truth. The order of God's house must be enforced with a firm hand. Indifference to the will of God cannot be thought of. Where that is allowed, say farewell to any testimony to Christ.
Elon fought no battles. He kept a peace won before him. One writer draws a warning out of such quiet years.
After Jephthah, under the rule of three judges, Israel enjoyed the peace that had been won. They were not called to fight, but to keep the people in the condition victory had put them in… Periods of outward prosperity are not the most profitable for the people of God. The personal importance of the judges comes out, but not the condition of Israel… And so, as soon as the last of these judges died, Israel fell back into their previous condition. There are times when we have to "overcome," and others when we have to "stand" (Ephesians 6:13). How do we use the corresponding days of peace the Lord allows us? Do we strengthen ourselves in the truths God has given us? Or do we go to sleep in comfortable surroundings, only to be woken without warning when Satan returns to the attack, and to find ourselves powerless before the enemy? Those who are not fed are not able to fight.
Read together with the judges on either side of him, Elon's name forms part of a small picture of one still to come.
Ibzan means "shining" or "splendour." Then comes Elon, which means "strength." And Abdon means "service"; he is the son of Hillel, which means "praising." These three give us a little glimpse of "Him who will come in splendour and in strength" — that is, "in power and great glory," to set things right. Then all strife and disorder will end, and happy service and praise will follow.
- Names speak. The history gives little but a name, a tribe and a grave. The meaning lies in the names themselves — otherwise the passage is darkness.
- Strength grows. Elon means "oak" or "the strong." This strength is the product of life and growth, and it follows purity instead of replacing it.
- Strength governs. Leading God's people needs that same strength. Carelessness about God's order is not kindness, and testimony to Christ does not survive it.
- Strength is inherited. Elon fought no war of his own. He held the ground Jephthah's victory had won. Quiet years are for feeding, because those who are not fed cannot fight.
- Strength arrives. Splendour, strength and service — these three names sketch the One who comes in power and great glory. Then strife ends and praise begins.