Commentary - Judges 10:1-5

Bird's-eye view

This short passage serves as a quiet interlude between the bloody chaos of Abimelech's disastrous pseudo-kingship and the next major cycle of apostasy and deliverance involving Jephthah. The Holy Spirit here records the ministries of two "minor" judges, Tola and Jair. They are called minor not because their work was insignificant in God's economy, but because the scriptural account of their tenure is brief. After the self-aggrandizing violence of Abimelech, who murdered his seventy brothers to seize power, these five verses provide a picture of stability and, in the case of Jair, a kind of patriarchal prosperity. These men "arose to save Israel" and then "judged Israel" for a combined forty-five years. This was nearly half a century of relative peace, a period of God's patient mercy. The text does not record any great battles or dramatic confrontations. Instead, it shows God's faithfulness in providing governance and order, reminding us that His providence is at work not only in the mighty earthquakes of deliverance but also in the still, small voice of quiet stability.

The account highlights the ordinary means of God's grace. Tola simply lived, judged, died, and was buried. Jair judged, raised a large family, established them in the land, died, and was buried. Their stories are a testament to the importance of steady, generational faithfulness. Jair, in particular, with his thirty sons, thirty donkeys, and thirty cities, represents a picture of covenantal succession and dominion. This is not the explosive deliverance of a Gideon, but the quiet, steady work of building a godly society generation by generation. It is a necessary breather in the turbulent narrative of Judges, showing that the downward spiral of apostasy was not without periods of God-given rest.

Outline

Context In Judges

Judges 10:1-5 follows immediately on the heels of the destructive career of Abimelech in chapter 9. Abimelech, Gideon's son by a concubine, was not a true judge called by God but a usurper who ruled through terror. His reign ended in a pathetic and ignominious death. This brief notice about Tola and Jair, therefore, acts as a narrative reset. The chaos subsides, and God raises up legitimate leaders once more. This section is part of a larger pattern in Judges where longer narratives of major judges (like Gideon and Jephthah) are interspersed with these shorter notices about minor judges. These brief accounts serve to bridge the larger stories and to demonstrate that God's provision for Israel was continuous, even when not dramatic. Following this passage, the familiar cycle begins again: Israel does evil, God sells them into the hands of their enemies (the Philistines and Ammonites), they cry out, and God prepares to raise up another deliverer, Jephthah.

Key Issues

The Grace of Ordinary Time

We are often drawn to the spectacular stories in Scripture. We love the drama of Gideon's fleece, the bravado of Samson, and the cunning of Ehud. But the Christian life, for the most part, is not lived on the high peaks of dramatic intervention. It is lived in the long, steady plains of ordinary faithfulness. That is what this little passage about Tola and Jair represents. For forty-five years, these men simply did the job. They judged. They administered justice, they settled disputes, they maintained order. This is the unglamorous, indispensable work of godly leadership.

After the conflagration of Abimelech's rule, what Israel needed most was not another whirlwind, but a season of quiet rebuilding. God, in His wisdom, provided exactly that. He gave them men who were not self-seeking tyrants, but servants of the people. Tola "arose to save Israel," which likely means he delivered them from the internal chaos and civil strife left over from Abimelech's bloody reign. Then he settled in for twenty-three years of judging. Jair followed with twenty-two years of the same. This is a picture of God's common grace, the mercy He shows in simply holding society together. We should not despise the day of small things, for it is often in the quiet decades that the real work of building for the future is done.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Then after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

The first phrase, "after Abimelech," is crucial. The nation needed a savior not from a foreign oppressor, but from the wreckage of an internal one. Abimelech was a cancerous growth within Israel, and his removal left the body politic wounded and weak. So God raises up Tola. His genealogy is given, grounding him firmly within the covenant people as "a man of Issachar." He "arose to save Israel," indicating a divine call and initiative. The nature of this salvation was likely the restoration of law and order. He then settles in "Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim." Though from Issachar, he rules from the central and influential region of Ephraim, suggesting a broad acceptance of his leadership. He is a restorer of the breach, a healer of the nation's self-inflicted wounds.

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

This verse summarizes an entire career in a handful of words. For twenty-three years, he provided stable governance. The text gives no hint of war or turmoil. He simply judged. And at the end of a long and faithful ministry, "he died and was buried." This is the honorable end of a godly man. Unlike Abimelech, who died in shame under a millstone thrown by a woman, Tola finishes his course and is buried in the place where he lived and served. It is a simple, dignified epitaph for a life of service.

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

The transition is seamless. "After him" suggests no power vacuum, no chaotic struggle for succession. God's provision is timely. Jair is a "Gileadite," meaning he comes from the land east of the Jordan. His rise shows that God's care extends to all the tribes of Israel, not just those in the heartland west of the river. He too "judged Israel," continuing the work of Tola for another long stretch of twenty-two years. Together, their tenures provided a generation and a half of stability.

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

This verse is packed with significance. It is a picture of immense blessing and patriarchal dominion. Thirty sons indicate great fruitfulness, a sign of God's favor under the old covenant. That they rode on thirty donkeys is not a quaint detail; donkeys were the mode of transport for rulers and men of substance, a symbol of peace and prosperity, in contrast to the war-horse. This shows that Jair's sons were men of rank who served as his deputies in governing the region. And they had thirty cities. Jair was not just a judge; he was a builder, a man who established his family and extended his godly influence. He gave his sons a real inheritance, not just of wealth, but of responsibility. The place was named "Havvoth-jair" ("the tent-villages of Jair"), a name that stuck for generations, a lasting legacy of his rule. This is covenantal succession in action. A godly father establishing his sons to carry on the work.

5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Like Tola, Jair finishes his course. He dies and is buried in his own territory. His life was not marked by a singular, spectacular event, but by the steady accumulation of faithfulness over two decades. He received the land as an inheritance, judged it well, filled it with his posterity, and was finally laid to rest in it. It is a portrait of a life well-lived, a stark and blessed contrast to the grasping, murderous ambition of Abimelech who had no legitimate sons to succeed him and no honorable burial.

Application

The primary lesson from the ministries of Tola and Jair is the profound value of steadfastness. Our culture, and often our church culture, is addicted to the new, the explosive, and the revolutionary. We are always looking for the next big thing, the next celebrity leader, the next revival that will change everything overnight. But God's kingdom is often built more like a stone wall than a fireworks display, one solid, well-placed stone at a time.

We are called to be Tolas and Jairs in our own spheres. We are called to be faithful husbands and fathers, diligent employees, honest businessmen, and responsible church members, year in and year out. We are called to the long obedience in the same direction. The world may not notice. There may be no books written about our lives. But God is honored by the quiet, twenty-three-year ministry of a man who simply does his duty. He is glorified by the father who raises up his sons to ride on their own donkeys, to take up their own responsibilities in the kingdom.

Furthermore, Jair provides a beautiful model of multi-generational faithfulness. His goal was not just to be a great man, but to be the father of great men. He was building something that would last beyond him. This is the biblical vision of dominion. We are to work and build and teach and train with an eye to our children and our children's children. The prosperity God gave Jair was not for hoarding, but for establishing his house and his people. We too should see all of God's blessings, whether they be children, wealth, or influence, as tools to be stewarded for the advancement of Christ's kingdom through the generations.