Judges 10

Judges 10 follows Judges 9, which recounts the downfall of Abimelech. The chapter serves as a transition, moving through brief records of two judges and the Ammonite oppression to the story of Jephthah in Judges 11.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Tola, a man of Issachar, arises to save Israel. He lives in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim, judges Israel for twenty-three years, dies, and is buried in Shamir.
• Verses 3–5 Jair the Gileadite judges Israel for twenty-two years. His thirty sons ride on thirty donkey colts and possess thirty towns, which are called Havoth-jair. Jair is buried in Camon.
• Verses 6–9 Israel again serves the Baals, the Ashtaroth, and the gods of various nations. The LORD gives them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites. The Israelites in Gilead, east of the Jordan, are oppressed for eighteen years, and the Ammonites cross the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.
• Verses 10–16 Israel cries out to the LORD, confessing its sin. The LORD recalls His past deliverances and declares that He will deliver them no more. Israel pleads again and puts away the foreign gods, and the LORD is grieved for Israel's misery.
• Verses 17–18 The Ammonites encamp in Gilead, and Israel encamps at Mizpah (KJV "Mizpeh"). The leaders of Gilead declare that whoever first goes out to fight will become head over Gilead.

Key Verses

• Judges 10:6 "Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria…" lists seven categories of gods, showing how widespread idolatry had become.
• Judges 10:14 "Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen…" rebukes Israel's repeated apostasy.
• Judges 10:16 "And his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" (KJV) reveals God's compassion following His rebuke.

People and Places

• Tola: A judge from the tribe of Issachar, the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo.
• Jair: A judge from Gilead.
• Philistines, Ammonites: Nations that oppressed Israel.
• Gilead: A region east of the Jordan.
• Mizpah: The place where Israel encamped against the Ammonites.

Points for Reflection

• Judges such as Tola and Jair, whose deeds are recorded only briefly, are commonly called the "minor judges."
• Havoth-jair also appears in Numbers 32:41 and Deuteronomy 3:14 as the name given by Jair the son of Manasseh. Interpreters differ on the relationship between the two figures named Jair.
• There is a tension between God's refusal in verse 13 and His grief in verse 16. Some read this as God testing the sincerity of Israel's repentance; others read it as showing that God's compassion takes precedence. One tradition understands "was grieved" as a figure of speech drawn from human emotion, while other interpreters emphasize that God truly suffers sorrow.
• The Ammonite oppression that begins in this chapter leads to deliverance through Jephthah, who is named in Hebrews 11:32 among the heroes of faith.