Judges 10:4

4 and he had thirty sons, sitting upon thirty colts of she-asses, and they were princes of thirty cities, the which be called by their father's name, Havothjair, that is, the cities of Jair, unto this present day, in the land of Gilead.

Judges 10:4 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 10:4

And he had thirty sons that rode upon thirty ass colts
Which to ride on in those times was reckoned honourable, and on which judges rode in their circuit, ( Judges 5:10 ) and such might be these sons of Jair, who were appointed under him to ride about, and do justice in the several parts of the country, as Samuel's sons were judges under him, ( 1 Samuel 8:1 ) ,

and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day,
which are in the land of Gilead;
or the villages of Jair. There were some of this name that belonged to Jair, a son of Manasseh, in the times of Moses, ( Numbers 32:41 ) and these may be the same, at least some of them; for they were but twenty three he had, whereas these were thirty, ( 1 Chronicles 2:22 ) and these coming by inheritance to this Jair, a descendant of the former, and he being of the same name, and these cities perhaps repaired and enlarged by him, the name of them was continued and established, for it is not reasonable to suppose, as some have done, that this is the same Jair that lived in the times of Moses, who, if so, must have lived more than three hundred years, an age men did not live to in those times.

Judges 10:4 In-Context

2 and he deemed Israel three and twenty years, and (then) he died, and was buried in Shamir.
3 His successor was Jair, a man of Gilead, that deemed Israel two and twenty years;
4 and he had thirty sons, sitting upon thirty colts of she-asses, and they were princes of thirty cities, the which be called by their father's name, Havothjair, that is, the cities of Jair, unto this present day, in the land of Gilead.
5 And (then) Jair died, and was buried in a place that is called Camon.
6 Forsooth the sons of Israel joined new sins to eld sins, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served to the idols of Baalim, and to Ashtaroth, and to the gods of Syria, and of Sidon, and of Moab, and of the sons of Ammon, and of Philistines; and they left the Lord, and worshipped not him (and did not worship him).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.