(12) Was buried in Aijalon.--There is a play of words between ???? (Elon) and ?????? (Ayalon), which is precisely the same word, though with different vowelpoints. It means not "a terebinth," but "gazelle." Ajalon is not Yalo, which is in the tribe of Dan (Joshua 10:12; 1 Samuel 14:31); and it is at least doubtful whether it should not be read Elon, as in the LXX. (Ailon, both for the judge and his burial-place), in which case we must suppose that the place was named from him. It is not mentioned elsewhere.
Verse 12. - In Aijalon. Not Aijalon in the tribe of Dan, mentioned Joshua 10:12; Joshua 19:42, but another city, only spoken of here, whose name is probably preserved in the ruins of Jalun, four hours east of Akka. It is remarkable that the two names Elon and Aijalon are identical in Hebrew as far as the consonants are concerned. It looks as if Aijalon, which is not mentioned among the Zebulonite cities in Joshua 19:10-16, was named from Elon, its possessor.
12:8-15 We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Saviour while we live, and to die at peace with God and man, form the substance of all that a wise man can desire.
and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun; which is added to distinguish it from another Aijalon in the tribe of Dan Jdg 1:35.