Judges 10:1-5--Tola and Jair

Judges 10:1-5
English Standard Version

Tola and Jair
10 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the 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 rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

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After Abimelech, the author of the book of Judges (probably Samuel) mentions two others that arose to save the people of Israel (it is probably fair to call them judges for this reason).  The first is Tola, son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar from Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim (notice that the people have already abandoned their ancestral lands as no son of Issachar should be dwelling in the land of Ephraim).  He judges Israel for twenty-three years and died and was buried in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.  He was not buried among his family in the land of Issachar.  No other details are given about this man's life or the time for which he was judge over the people.

After Tola arose Jair the Gileadite (East Manasseh) who judged Israel twenty-two years.  The text tells us that he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair even to the day that this text was written.  These cities are in the land of Gilead (that is East Manasseh).  The text then tells us that Jair died and was buried in Kamon.  Nothing else is said about how either of these men apparently saved Israel or how the people responded to them (our next passage that we'll study tomorrow somewhat speaks to this point though as we'll see that the people will again do what is evil in the eyes of the LORD).