The Book of Judges
Judges 10
Chapter X · Vol. II, p. 604
1 Tola judgeth Israel in Shamir; and after him Jair, whose thirty sons had thirty cities. 6 The Philistines and Ammonites oppress Israel. 10 In their misery God sendeth them to their false gods. 15 Upon their repentance he pitieth them.
1 And after Abimelech there aarose, to 1defend2 Israel, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim.
2 And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.
3 And after him arose Jair,3 a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.
3 Perhaps Jair began to rule on the east of Jordan not long after Tola began to govern on the west of it.
4 Andb he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass-colts,4 and they had thirty cities, which are called cHavoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.5
b ch.12.14; 5.10. Pr.17.6.
4 This simple statement is specially valuable, (1) as an indication of the manners and state of the people; (2) as a note that the history must have been written at or very near the time; (3) as it assumes not, after the manner of secular history, any dignity for its heroes beyond their own recorded actions. Josephus seems to have been so sensible of this, that he changes the asses into horses, to give importance in the eyes of the Romans, for whom he wrote.—C.
c Or, the villages of Jair, Nu.32.41.
5 Jair was probably a descendant of Jair the son of Manasseh, who conquered the small towns of Gilead and called them Havoth-Jair. There were then but twenty-three of them; but the sons of Jair the judge increased the number to thirty, and revived the old name.—P.
5 And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
6 And dthe children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.
d ch.2.11,13; 3.7; 4.1; 6.1; 13.1. 1 Ki.11.33. 1 Sa.5.2. Eze.16.25,26. Je.2.13. Perhaps this was not long after Tola and Jair began to judge.
7 And ethe anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them6 into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
A.M. 2835 B.C. 1169
e ch.2.14,15,20. De.32.16-22,30. Is.59.2. Le.26.24,25. 1 Sa.12.9.
6 He had redeemed them from Egyptian slavery, he now gave them up to the Philistines.—C.
8 And that fyear7 they vexed and 8oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9 Moreover,g the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
10 Andh the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
h ch.3.9,15; 4.3; 6.6. 1 Sa.7.2,6; 12.10. Ps.106.44; 107.13,19,28.
11 Andi the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
i ch.2.1-3; iii. iv. vii. Ex.vii.-xiv. 1 Sa.12.7-11. Ne.9.26-30. Eze.20.5-33.
12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites,9 did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.
9 The Alexandrian Septuagint reads 'Midianites:' the Vulgate, 'Canaanites.' There seems no good reason for departing from the common reading, though the people are never mentioned before or after as oppressors of Israel. They were probably a tribe of Arabians inhabiting Maon. See Jos.15.55.—C.
13 Yetk ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.1
k De.32.15. Je.2.13; 18.7,8. Jonah 3.4; 2.4.
1 Now God did deliver them again; did he then change his purpose? And if he did change it, did he now tell the truth? The answer is easy: God says, 'Ye have forsaken me, and served other gods; wherefore, I will deliver you,' that is, 'you' (as serving other gods) 'no more;' whereupon (ver. 16) they 'put away the strange gods, and served the Lord,' and he delivered them, being a new people.—C.
14 Gol and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
15 And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, mWe have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee;2 deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
16 And they nput away the strange 3gods from among them, and served the LORD: and ohis soul was grieved4 for the misery of Israel.
n 2 Ch.7.14. Ho.14.1-3,8.
3 Heb. gods of strangers. [They indicated the sincerity of their repentance by utterly renouncing idolatry. If our repentance be real, we will renounce and forsake the sins which we confess. The reformation on this occasion seems to have been permanent, for we read not of their falling into idolatry during the time of those three judges which succeeded Jephthah.—I.]
o Is.63.9-14. Ho.11.8. Zec.2.8. Joel 2.13. Ps.106.45; 135.14. De.32.36. Je.31.20. La.3.32.
4 Heb. was shortened.
17 Then the children of Ammon were gathered together,5 and encamped in Gilead: and the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in pMizpeh.
5 Heb. cried together.
p Ge.31.49. ch.11.11,29,34. Jos.11.3,8.
18 And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, qWhat man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
q ch.11.5-8. De.20.5,6. Ps.44.14,15. Is.34.12; 3.6,7. 2 Sa.5.8. Jos.5.16. 1 Sa.17.25,26.
Notes
[Ver. 1. Shamir in Mount Ephraim. There was another Shamir in the hill country of Judah, Jos. 19. 22, therefore this city is specially described as belonging to Ephraim. Of Tola, nothing particular is related but his defence or deliverance of Israel, and the character of distinguished valour generally bestowed upon the whole family of Issachar, 1 Ch. 7. 1. C.]
Ver. 6. [Forsook the Lord and served not him. A religion addressed to the senses has wonderful attractions either for a very refined or a very sensual people, two states that may be either separate or combined. When refinement and sensuality are combined, religion chiefly consists in a taste for painting, statuary, music, processions, and ceremonies, with great moral laxity, compensated by pilgrimages, penances, or fines. Where sensuality reigns alone, the evils are the same, but the hope of remedy greater; for the refinement is wanting by which idolatry is recommended and its grosser deformities covered from the eyes. C.]
Ver. 10. [The children of Israel cried unto the Lord. Under whose government this occurred we are not expressly told. From the following chapter it would seem to have been in a kind of interregnum, between the death of Jair and the elevation of Jephthah. The time, however, is of no importance. The convictions of sin, and religious revival indicated, are the points of real importance. C.]
Ver. 11. [The Lord said unto the children of Israel. By whom the Lord spoke, whether by a prophet or the high-priest, or by his angel, we are not informed. By reference to ch. 13. 3 it would appear most probable that in this case it was the Lord himself that spoke. C.]
Reflections.—God can easily heap wealth on families, or render them happy with a moderate share; and it is a great mercy to a country when God raises up one impartial administrator of justice after another. Those whose hearts were never changed soon relapse into the very sins for which they had often severely smarted, and even become more and more wicked: and when single rods of wrath are quickly contemned God will, in justice or in love, apply his double strokes; strokes on every hand! But if at last they bring us to a kindly sense of sin and cordial crying to God, we must esteem them amongst his greatest mercies; and though sharp the trial, and God refuse to hear our distresses, yet let not the soul that is even frowned out of doors despair. If he makes us plead guilty at his bar, renounce our idols, and submit to his mercy, there is hope in our end. His fatherly heart is touched with our wretchedness, and ready to receive the returning prodigals. He is loath to give up his people to utter destruction: and when he restores his favourable smiles, they powerfully animate our hearts against every foe. But it is of great importance in our spiritual warfare to have proper leaders and directors; and especially that we cleave close to Christ, the great Captain of his people.