Judges 10:3

3 After him, Jair the Gileadite stepped into leadership. He judged Israel for twenty-two years.

Judges 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 10:3

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.

Judges 10:3 In-Context

1 Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, was next after Abimelech. He rose to the occasion to save Israel. He was a man of Issachar. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
2 He judged Israel for twenty-three years and then died and was buried at Shamir.
3 After him, Jair the Gileadite stepped into leadership. He judged Israel for twenty-two years.
4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and had thirty towns in Gilead. The towns are still called Jair's Villages.
5 Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.