Judges 10

1 After Abimelech's death Tola, the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo, came to free Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar and lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

2 He was Israel's leader for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.

3 After Tola came Jair from Gilead. He led Israel for twenty-two years.

4 He had thirty sons who rode thirty donkeys. They had thirty cities in the land of Gilead, which are still called the villages of Jair.

5 Jair died and was buried at Kamon.

6 Once again the Israelites sinned against the Lord by worshiping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and stopped worshiping him.

7 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them.

8 For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the Jordan River in Gilead.

9 The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in great distress.

10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, "We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshiped the Baals."

11 The Lord gave them this answer: "The Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them?

13 But you still left me and worshiped other gods, so I am not going to rescue you again.

14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them rescue you when you get in trouble."

15 But the people of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned. Do whatever you like, but please, save us today."

16 So they got rid of their foreign gods and worshiped the Lord; and he became troubled over Israel's distress.

17 Then the Ammonite army prepared for battle and camped in Gilead. The people of Israel came together and camped at Mizpah in Gilead.

18 There the people and the leaders of the Israelite tribes asked one another, "Who will lead the fight against the Ammonites? Whoever does will be the leader of everyone in 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.

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.