Judges 10

Tola and Jair

1 After Abimelech there arose to ¹save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in ²the hill country of Ephraim.

2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.

3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.

4 And he had thirty sons who ³rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, ⁴which are in the land of Gilead.

5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Further Disobedience and Oppression

6 ⁵The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD ⁶and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, ⁷the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they ⁸forsook the LORD and did not serve him.

7 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and ⁹he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,

8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

10 And the people of Israel ¹⁰cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against you, because ¹¹we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals."

11 And the LORD said to the people of Israel, "Did I not save you ¹²from the Egyptians and ¹³from the Amorites, ¹⁴from the Ammonites and ¹⁵from the Philistines?

12 The Sidonians also, and ¹⁶the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I ¹⁷saved you out of their hand.

13 Yet you have ¹⁸forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.

14 Go and cry out ¹⁹to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."

15 And the people of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day."

16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and ²⁰he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at ²¹Mizpah.

18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? ²²He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

Judges 10 Commentary

Chapter 10

Tola and Jair judge Israel. (1-5) The Philistines and Ammonites oppress Israel. (6-9) Israel's repentance. (10-18)

Verses 1-5 Quiet and peaceable reigns, though the best to live in, yield least variety of matter to be spoken of. Such were the days of Tola and Jair. They were humble, active, and useful men, rulers appointed of God.

Verses 6-9 Now the threatening was fulfilled, that the Israelites should have no power to stand before their enemies, Le. 26:17, Le. 26:37 . By their evil ways and their evil doings they procured this to themselves.

Verses 10-18 God is able to multiply men's punishments according to the numbers of their sins and idols. But there is hope when sinners cry to the Lord for help, and lament their ungodliness as well as their more open transgressions. It is necessary, in true repentance, that there be a full conviction that those things cannot help us which we have set in competition with God. They acknowledged what they deserved, yet prayed to God not to deal with them according to their deserts. We must submit to God's justice, with a hope in his mercy. True repentance is not only for sin, but from sin. As the disobedience and misery of a child are a grief to a tender father, so the provocations of God's people are a grief to him. From him mercy never can be sought in vain. Let then the trembling sinner, and the almost despairing backslider, cease from debating about God's secret purposes, or from expecting to find hope from former experiences. Let them cast themselves on the mercy of God our Saviour, humble themselves under his hand, seek deliverance from the powers of darkness, separate themselves from sin, and from occasions of it, use the means of grace diligently, and wait the Lord's time, and so they shall certainly rejoice in his mercy.

Cross References

• 1. ver. 12, 13; See Judges 2:16
• 2. See Joshua 24:33
• 3. Judges 5:10; Judges 12:14
• 4. Deuteronomy 3:14
• 5. See Judges 2:11
• 6. See Judges 2:13
• 7. 1 Kgs. 11:5, 7, 33; 2 Kings 23:13
• 8. ver. 10, 13; Deuteronomy 31:16
• 9. See Judges 2:14
• 10. See Judges 3:9
• 11. ver. 6, 13
• 12. Exodus 14:30
• 13. See Numbers 21:21-32
• 14. [Judges 3:13]
• 15. Judges 3:31
• 16. [Judges 3:13; Judges 6:3]
• 17. See Judges 2:16
• 18. ver. 6, 10; [Deuteronomy 32:15; Jeremiah 2:13]
• 19. Deuteronomy 32:37, 38
• 20. Judges 2:18; Isaiah 63:9
• 21. Judges 11:11, 29
• 22. [Judges 11:5, 6, 8, 11]

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 10

This chapter gives an account of two judges of Israel, in whose days they enjoyed peace, Jud 10:1-5, after which they sinning against God, came into trouble, and were oppressed by their enemies eighteen years, and were also invaded by an army of the Ammonites, Jud 10:6-9, when they cried unto the Lord for deliverance, confessing their sin; but he had first refused to grant them any, though upon their importunity and reformation he had compassion on them, Jud 10:10-16 and the chapter is concluded with the preparation made by both armies for a battle, Jud 10:17,18.