bedan Summary and Overview

one of the judges of Israel (1 Sam. 12:11). It is uncertain who he was. Some suppose that Barak is meant, others Samson, but most probably this is a contracted form of Abdon (Judg. 12:13).

(son of judgement). 1. Mentioned in #1Sa 12:11| as a judge of Israel between Jerubbaal (Gideon) and Jephthah. The Chaldee Paraphrase reads Samson for Bedan; the LXX., Syriac and Arabic all have Barak. Ewald suggests that it may be a false reading for Abdon. (B.C. about 1150.) 2. The son of Gilead. #1Ch 7:17|

BE'DAN (servile). 1. In 1 Sam 12:11 the name of this judge stands between Jerubbael, or Gideon, and Jephthah, but probably it is a copyist's error for Barak, as several of the versions give it. The difference in Hebrew is not great. 2. A Manassite. 1 Chr 7:17.

A judge of Israel between Jerubbaal and Jephthah, in 1 Samuel 12:11. Seemingly not, mentioned in Judges, but the name is probably identical with Abdon, which has the same radical consonants (Judges 12:13-15). No achievement of his for Israel's deliverance is recorded, but may it not be inferred from the record "he was buried ... in the mount of the Amalekites," that he probably smote them, and took the land which they had robbed Israel of? Compare Judges 3:13; Judges 3:27; Judges 5:14. A Bedan is mentioned among Manasseh's descendants (1 Chronicles 7:17), whence some identify him with the Jair (Judges 10:3), and suppose the surname Bedan was added to distinguish him from the elder Jair (Numbers 32:41). The Chaldee paraphrase reads "Samson" for "Bedan" in 1 Samuel 12:11. Whence some guess Bedan = Ben-Dan, or Be (Hebrew in) Dan, to be an epithet of Samson, namely, the Danite; compare Judges 13:25. But the order of the names forbids it. The Septuagint, Syrian, and Arabic versions read "Barak," which also the order forbids; however, see Hebrews 11:32. Other and spiritual considerations, besides chronology, often rule the order.