Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 10:3
And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.
3. Jair, the Gileadite ] Called ‘the son of Manasseh’ in Num 32:41, Deu 3:14, cf. Jos 13:30; in 1Ch 2:21 ff. he is the great-grandson of Machir. Gilead was the name applied generally to the country E. of the Jordan, between the south end of the Sea of Tiberias and the north end of the Dead Sea.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A Gileadite; of Gilead beyond Jordan
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Jair, a GileaditeThisjudge was a different person from the conqueror of that northeasternterritory, and founder of Havoth-jair, or “Jair’s villages”(Num 32:41; Deu 3:14;Jos 13:3; 1Ch 2:22).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite,…. Who was of the half tribe of Manasseh, on the other side Jordan, which inhabited the land of Gilead, and who is the first of the judges that was on that side Jordan; it pleased God, before the government was settled in a particular tribe, to remove it from one to another, and to honour them all, and to show that though the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, were separated from their brethren by the river Jordan, they were not neglected by the Lord; and generally speaking judges were raised up in all those parts which were most oppressed, and liable to be oppressed by their enemies, as Gilead by the Ammonites; wherefore this, and the next judge that followed him, Jephthah, were of Gilead:
and judged Israel twenty two years; protected them from their enemies, administered justice to them, and preserved them in the true religion.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Jair, a Gileadite.In Num. 32:41 we are told of a Jair, the son of Manasseh, who took the small towns of Gilead, and called them Havoth-jair. This earlier Jair, with Nobah, plays a splendid part in Jewish legend, which is only alluded to in Scripture (see Deu. 3:14). In what relation the Jair of these verses stood to him we cannot, in the uncertain data of the chronology, decide. The Jair of Num. 32:41 was descended from Judah on the fathers side, and on the mothers was a great-grandson of Manasseh.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Jair, a Gileadite That is, a native or resident of Gilead, the mountainous country east of the Jordan. On the silence of Scripture respecting the particulars of his life the same may be said as of Tola, in Jdg 10:1.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
There was an illustrious Jair before this man. Num 32:41 . Though Jair reigned twenty-two years, and was eminently distinguished as a father, with a numerous progeny, and provided for them nobly, yet all his history is contained in a small compass; that he was a Gileadite, that he had thirty sons, which rode elegantly; which possessed thirty cities, and after reigning twenty-two years, that he died. Alas! and what is the inscription of every man ‘ s tomb but like it. Oh! how precious it is, to belong to him who liveth forever, and hath said, Because I live, ye shall live also. Joh 14:19 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 10:3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.
Ver. 3. Jair, a Gileadite. ] Of whom we may say as one doth of Jesse, the father of David, that he was Vir bonus et probus, sed minus clarus, a good honest man, but there is not much said of him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
twenty. See note, App-50.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. Ashtaroth, plural = the Ashtoreths. Compare Jdg 2:11-13.
gods of Syria. Gen 35:3-6.
gods of Zidon. 1Ki 11:5 (Baal, Astarte).
gods of Moab. Jdg 11:24 (Chemosh). 1Ki 11:33 (Milcom or Molech).
gods of the Philistines: e.g. Dagon (Jdg 16:23).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
am 2795, bc 1209, An, Ex, Is, 282
a Gileadite: Gen 31:48, Num 32:29
Reciprocal: Jdg 11:26 – three hundred
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 10:3-4. Jair, a Gileadite Of Gilead, beyond Jordan. He had thirty sons Who, it seems, were itinerant judges, and went from place to place, as their fathers deputies, to administer justice. That rode on thirty ass- colts It was customary for the noblest persons to ride on those beasts, and that not only in Judea, but likewise in Arabia, and other countries, even among the Romans. Thirty cities, called Havoth-jair That is, the villages of Jair. These villages were so called before this time from another Jair, but the old name was revived and confirmed upon this occasion.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jair’s judgeship 10:3-5
The only unusual feature of Jair’s life, other than that he came from Transjordan, was that he maintained a network of 30 cities over which his 30 sons ruled in Gilead. His name means "may [God] enlighten." An ancestor named Jair appears to have settled the same area shortly after the Israelites defeated Sihon and Og (Num 32:41). The fact that his sons each rode on a donkey marked them as having distinguished rank in times when the Israelites had no horses. [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 372.] Only the wealthy and prominent in Israel rode on donkeys at this time.
"The ass was highly esteemed as a riding beast and many times carried with it special recognition (Jdg 1:14; 1Sa 25:20)." [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, pp. 119-20.]
The fact that Jair fathered 30 sons suggests that he practiced polygamy (cf. Gideon, Jdg 8:30). Jair judged Israel for 22 years. Kamon stood about 12 miles southeast of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee).
We see in this brief record of Jair’s life continuing tendencies in Israel toward the lifestyle of the surrounding pagan nations and away from fidelity to Yahweh and His Law.
The ministries of these two minor judges teach two lessons, one negative and the other positive. Negatively, they did not change any of the previous problems in Israel but seem to have maintained the status quo. [Note: Tammi J. Schneiders, Judges, p. 158.] Positively, they indicate God’s gracious blessing of His apostate people in spite of themselves.
"Elsewhere in the Old Testament, children are gifts from God; they indicate God’s blessing. So amid the increasing chaotic and violent stories that indicate the Israelites are abandoning God, the two lists of minor judges suggest that God is not abandoning the Israelites (see Jdg 2:1, where God says, ’I will never break my covenant with you.’)." [Note: McCann, p. 77.]