Righteous Old Testament

Righteous Abdon

Also known as Abdon son of Hillel · Abdon the Judge

A judge of Israel, a Pirathonite.

Feast Day

December 14

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

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Commemorated as

The Righteous Abdon the Pirathonite, Judge of Israel

Life

Abdon, the son of Hillel of Pirathon, was one of the judges who governed Israel during the period described in the Book of Judges. A member of the tribe of Ephraim, he is numbered among the so-called minor judges, figures whose lives are recorded only in brief notices that preserve their tribe or town, the length of their rule, details of their household, and their place of burial. According to Judges 12:13-15, Abdon judged Israel for eight years and was buried at Pirathon in the hill country of Ephraim.

He is commemorated in the Orthodox Church among the Holy Forefathers, the righteous men and women of the Old Covenant numbered among the ancestors and forebears of Christ, whose collective memory is kept in the weeks before the Nativity. His individual veneration is not clearly attested apart from this commemoration.

Timeline 2 moments Read Hide

Period of the Judges Judges Israel for eight years Abdon son of Hillel succeeds Elon among the judges following the time of Jephthah, governing Israel for a period of eight years according to the account in Judges.
Period of the Judges Buried at Pirathon Upon his death Abdon is buried at Pirathon, on Ephraimite land in the hill country, the town later also remembered as the home of Benaiah, one of King David's captains.

Contributions & Legacy

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Biblical Account

The whole of what Scripture records of Abdon is contained in three verses of the Book of Judges (12:13-15). He is identified as the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, of the tribe of Ephraim, and is reckoned among the minor judges who appear after Jephthah, alongside Ibzan and Elon. The text notes that he had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkey colts, a detail conventionally taken to signify the standing and prosperity of his household.

Some scholars distinguish these minor judges, who may have functioned as adjudicators or legal authorities, from the major judges, who are presented chiefly as military and charismatic deliverers. His home town of Pirathon, rendered Pharathon in the Greek Septuagint, has commonly been identified with the site of Fara'ata, set on a prominent hill several miles to the west-southwest of Shechem.

Notes

Among the Holy Forefathers, commemorated on the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ. Individual veneration is not clearly attested; flagged for clergy review.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints