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He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.
Judges 12:14 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB He had forty sons and thirty sons’ sons, who rode on seventy donkey colts. He judged Israel eight years.
  • KJV And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
  • BSB He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.
  • NKJV He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years.
  • NASB He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel for eight years.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Abdon has forty sons and thirty grandsons who ride seventy donkeys, and he judges eight years. The detail signals notable wealth and status.

Overview

The many descendants riding donkeys mark Abdon as a man of prominence and prosperity. As with Ibzan, the focus rests on family standing rather than spiritual achievement. These notices portray a stretch of relative ease before Israel again falls into oppression.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Judg 5:10“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way.
  • Judg 10:4He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Judges videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Judges 12:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudgesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.

How Judges 12:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.