Righteous Old Testament

Righteous Elon

Also known as Elon the Zebulonite · Elon the Judge

A judge of Israel of the tribe of Zebulun.

Feast Day

December 14

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

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Commemorated as

The Righteous Elon the Zebulonite, Judge of Israel

Life

Elon was a judge of Israel from the tribe of Zebulun, known chiefly from the brief notice given to him in the Book of Judges (12:11–12). According to that account he judged Israel for ten years, following the judge Ibzan and preceding Abdon. He belongs to the group commonly described as the minor judges, whose deeds are recorded only in a few summary verses rather than in extended narratives.

Scripture states that Elon died and was buried in Aijalon, in the territory of his own tribe of Zebulun in the north of the land. The Orthodox Church remembers him among the Holy Forefathers — the righteous men and women of the Old Covenant — who are commemorated together on the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ.

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Scriptural Account

Elon appears in only two verses of the Book of Judges. The text records that after Ibzan, Elon the Zebulonite judged Israel for ten years, and that when he died he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. No deliverance, military action, or family is described, and his ten-year tenure is reported without any account of conflict.

Because the notice is so brief, Elon is grouped by readers of the book with the other minor judges — Tola, Jair, Ibzan, and Abdon — whose service is summarized rather than narrated. Some scholars have suggested that these names may represent clans as well as individuals. His Hebrew name is generally understood to mean "oak," and it appears in some translations in forms such as "Ahialon."

Veneration

Elon is venerated in the Orthodox Church among the Holy Forefathers, the company of Old Testament righteous who are commemorated collectively on the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ. A fixed-day commemoration on December 14 is associated with him in this database, though clear evidence of an individual veneration distinct from the corporate feast of the Forefathers is limited.

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