Ibzan

Ibzan was a judge of Israel, possibly from Bethlehem (either in Judah or in Zebulun), who judged for seven years (Judges 12:8–10). He is noted for having thirty sons and thirty daughters: he sent his daughters to marry outside his clan and brought in thirty daughters from outside as wives for his sons, suggesting active management of inter-tribal or inter-family alliances through strategic marriage. Along with Elon and Abdon, Ibzan follows Jephthah in the sequence of minor judges. He was buried in Bethlehem. The prominence of children in his account parallels that of Jair and Abdon, suggesting the minor judges were local aristocrats whose influence was maintained through extensive family networks.