Judges 10

Oppression of Philistines and Ammonites

1 Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, ¹arose to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

2 He judged Israel twenty-three * years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.

3 After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and judged Israel twenty-two * years.

4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities in the land of Gilead ²that are called Havvoth-jair to this day.

5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

6 Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, ³served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, ⁴the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus ⁵they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.

7 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He ⁶sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon.

8 They afflicted and crushed the sons of Israel that year; for eighteen * years they afflicted all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in Gilead in the land of the Amorites.

9 The sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.

10 Then the ⁷sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals."

11 The LORD said to the sons of Israel, "Did I not deliver you ⁸from the Egyptians, ⁹the Amorites, ¹⁰the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines?

12 "Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites ¹¹oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands.

13 "Yet ¹²you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.

14 "¹³Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress."

15 The sons of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned, ¹⁴do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day."

16 ¹⁵So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and ¹⁶He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.

17 Then the sons of Ammon were summoned and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in ¹⁷Mizpah.

18 The people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become 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.

Cross References

• 1. Judges 2:16
• 2. Numbers 32:41
• 3. Judges 2:13
• 4. Judges 11:24
• 5. Deuteronomy 31:16, 17; Deuteronomy 32:15
• 6. 1 Samuel 12:9
• 7. 1 Samuel 12:10
• 8. Judges 2:12
• 9. Numbers 21:21-25
• 10. Judges 3:13
• 11. Psalms 106:42
• 12. Jeremiah 2:13
• 13. Deuteronomy 32:37
• 14. 1 Samuel 3:18
• 15. Joshua 24:23
• 16. Deuteronomy 32:36
• 17. Judges 11:29

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "which are in"
• [b]. I.e. the towns of Jair
• [c]. Lit "shattered"
• [d]. Lit "in that"
• [e]. Lit "which is in"
• [f]. Lit "His soul was short with the misery"

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.