Judges 10

The Philistines and Ammonites Afflict the Israelites

1 After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah son of Dod, a man of Issachar, rose up to deliver Israel; and he [was] living at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

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

3 After him Jair the Gileadite rose up, and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

4 And he had thirty sons who would ride on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns that [are] in the land of Gilead that they called Havvoth Jair until this day.

5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

6 And again, the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and the gods of the {Ammonites} and Philistines; they abandoned Yahweh and did not serve him.

7 And {the anger of Yahweh burned} against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of [the] Philistines and the {Ammonites}.

8 They crushed and oppressed the {Israelites} in that year; for eighteen years they [crushed] all the {Israelites} who [were] beyond the Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, which [is] in Gilead.

9 The {Ammonites} crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was very distressed.

10 Then the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, saying, "We have sinned against you; we have abandoned our God and served the Baals."

11 And Yahweh said to the {Israelites}, "[Did I] not [deliver you] from [the] Egyptians, the Amorites, from the {Ammonites}, and from the Philistines?

12 And when [the] Sidonians, [the] Amalekites, and [the] Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from their hand.

13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer deliver you.

14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your trouble."

15 And the {Israelites} said to Yahweh, "We have sinned; {do to us accordingly as you see fit}; only please deliver us this day."

16 So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel.

17 And the {Ammonites} were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the {Israelites} gathered and camped at Mizpah.

18 The people, the ones commanding Gilead, {said to each other}, "Who [is] the man that will begin to fight against the {Ammonites}? He will be as head over all the inhabitants of 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [b]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"
• [c]. Literally "the nose of Yahweh became hot"
• [d]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"
• [e]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [f]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [g]. Hebrew "Amorite"
• [h]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"
• [i]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [j]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [k]. Hebrew "from Egypt"
• [l]. Hebrew "Amorite"
• [m]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"
• [n]. Hebrew "Philistine"
• [o]. Hebrew "Amalekite"
• [p]. Hebrew "Maonite"
• [q]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [r]. Literally "do to us according to the good in your eyes"
• [s]. Literally "his soul was short with"
• [t]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"
• [u]. Or "were called to arms"
• [v]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [w]. Literally "said each to his neighbor"
• [x]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"

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.