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Judges Chapter
Ten
Judges 10
Outlines
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 10
This
chapter gives an account of two judges of Israel
in whose days they enjoyed
peace
Judges 10:1
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
Judges 10:6
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
Judges 10:10 and the
chapter is concluded with the preparation made by both armies for a battle
Judges 10:17.
Judges 10:1 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of
Puah
the son of Dodo
a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the
mountains of Ephraim.
YLT
1And there riseth after
Abimelech
to save Israel
Tola son of Puah
son of Dodo
a man of Issachar
and he is dwelling in Shamir
in the hill-country of Ephraim
And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel
.... To save
deliver
and protect Israel; which does not necessarily imply that Abimelech
did; for he was no judge of God's raising up
or the people's choosing
but
usurped a kingly power over them; and was so far from saving and defending
them
that he involved them in trouble and distress
and ruled over them in a
tyrannical manner
and left them in the practice of idolatry: it only signifies
that after his death arose a person next described to which this may well be
attributed
that he was raised up as a judge by the Lord; and though we read of
no enemies particularly
that he delivered the people from in his days
yet it
is not impossible nor unlikely that there might be such
though not made
mention of; besides
he might be said to save them
as the word signifies
in
that he was an happy instrument of composing those differences and dissensions
which Abimelech had occasioned
and of recovering them from the idolatry they
had fallen into in his times
and of protecting them in their liberties
civil
and religious: and this was
Tola the son of Puah
the son of Dodo
a man of Issachar; he was of the
tribe of Issachar
and bore the same name as the eldest son of Issachar did
as
his father Puah had the name of the second son of Issachar
1 Chronicles 7:1
and as for Dodo his grandfather
this is elsewhere mentioned as the name of a
man
as it doubtless is here
2 Samuel 23:9
though some copies of the Targum
the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions
render it
the son of his uncle
or father's brother; meaning that his father
Puah was the son of Abimelech's uncle
or father's brother
and so was one of
the family which was raised up to be a judge after his death; but it is not
likely that Gideon
the father of Abimelech
and Puah
the father of this man
should be brethren
when the one was of the tribe of Manasseh
and the other of
the tribe of Issachar:
and he dwelt in Shamir in Mount Ephraim: that is
when
he became judge in Israel he removed to this place
as being in the midst of
the tribes
and near the tabernacle of Shiloh
and so fit for a judge to reside
in
to whom the people might apply from all parts to have justice and judgment
administered to them. It is called Shamir in Mount Ephraim
to distinguish it
from another of the same name in the mountain of Judah
Joshua 15:48 it
seems to have its name from the thorns which grew about it.
Judges 10:2 2 He judged Israel twenty-three years; and he died and was
buried in Shamir.
YLT
2and he judgeth Israel
twenty and three years
and he dieth
and is buried in Shamir.
And he judged Israel twenty three years
and died
.... He did
not take upon him to be king
as Abimelech did
but acted as a judge
in which
office he continued twenty three years
and faithfully discharged it
and died
in honour:
and was buried in Shamir; the place where he
executed his office. It is saidF20Juchasin
fol. 136. 1.
that in
the first year of Tola
the son of Puah
Priamus reigned in Troy.
Judges 10:3 3 After him arose Jair
a
Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years.
YLT
3And there riseth after him
Jair the Gileadite
and he judgeth Israel twenty and two years
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 10:4 4 Now he had thirty sons who
rode on thirty donkeys; they also had thirty towns
which are called “Havoth
Jair”[a] to this
day
which are in the land of Gilead.
YLT
4and he hath thirty sons
riding on thirty ass-colts
and they have thirty cities
(they call them
Havoth-Jair unto this day)
which [are] in the land of Gilead;
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 10:5 5 And Jair died and was
buried in Camon.
YLT
5and Jair dieth
and is
buried in Kamon.
And Jair died
and was buried in Camon. A city of
Gilead
as JosephusF21Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 6. calls it; JeromF23De
loc. Heb. fol. 90. B.
under this word Camon
makes mention of a village in
his times
called Cimana
in the large plain six miles from Legion to the
north
as you go to Ptolemais; but
as RelandF24Palestina Illustr.
tom. 2. p. 679. observes
this seems not to be the same place
but rather this
is the Camon PolybiusF25Hist. l. 5. speaks of among other cities of
Peraea
taken by Antiochus.
Judges 10:6 6 Then the children of
Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord
and served the Baals and
the Ashtoreths
the gods of Syria
the gods of Sidon
the gods of Moab
the
gods of the people of Ammon
and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook
the Lord
and did not serve Him.
YLT
6And the sons of Israel add
to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah
and serve the Baalim
and
Ashtaroth
and the gods of Aram
and the gods of Zidon
and the gods of Moab
and the gods of the Bene-Ammon
and the gods of the Philistines
and forsake
Jehovah
and have not served Him;
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord
.... After the
death of the above judges they fell into idolatry again
as the following
instances show:
and served Baalim
and Ashtaroth; as they had before; see
Gill on Judges 2:11
Judges 2:13 and
besides these:
also the gods of Syria; their gods and goddesses
Belus and Saturn
Astarte and the Dea Syria
Lucian writes of:
and the gods of Zidon; the goddess of the
Zidonians was Ashtaroth
1 Kings 11:5 and it
seems they had other deities:
and the gods of Moab; the chief of which were
Baalpeor and Chemosh
Numbers 25:3.
and the gods of the children of Ammon
as Milcom or
Molech
1 Kings 11:5.
and the gods of the Philistines; as Dagon the god of
Ashdod
Beelzebub the god of Ekron
Marnas the god of Gaza
and Derceto the
goddess of Ashkalon:
and forsook the Lord
and served not him; not even in
conjunction with the above deities
as Jarchi and others observe; at other
times
when they worshipped other gods
they pretended to worship the Lord
also
they served the creature besides the Creator; but now they were so
dreadfully sunk into idolatry
that they had wholly forsaken the Lord and his
worship at the tabernacle
and made no pretensions to it
but entirely
neglected it.
Judges 10:7 7 So the anger of the Lord was hot against
Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands
of the people of Ammon.
YLT
7and the anger of Jehovah
burneth against Israel
and He selleth them into the hand of the Philistines
and into the hand of the Bene-Ammon
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel
.... His anger
burned like fire
he was exceedingly incensed against them
nothing being more
provoking to him than idolatry
as after mentioned:
and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines
and into the
hands of the children of Ammon; that is
delivered them into their hands
and they became subject and were in bondage to them
as such are that are sold
for "slaves"; part of them
that lay to the west of the land of
Israel
fell into the hands of the Philistines; and another part
which lay to
the east
were oppressed by the children of Ammon
particularly those that were
on the other side Jordan came into the hands of the latter.
Judges 10:8 8 From that year they
harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the
children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land
of the Amorites
in Gilead.
YLT
8and they crush and oppress
the sons of Israel in that year -- eighteen years all the sons of Israel [who]
are beyond the Jordan
in the land of the Amorite
which [is] in Gilead.
And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel
.... The
Philistines on one side
and the children of Ammon on the other; meaning either
that year in which Jair died
as Jarchi; or the first year they began to bring
them into bondage
as R. Isaiah: "and from that year"
as Kimchi and
Ben Melech
that they vexed and distressed them
they continued to vex and
distress them
eighteen years; or
as Abarbinel interprets it
"with
that year"
they vexed and oppressed them eighteen years
that is
so many
more
or reckoning that into the number of them; and these eighteen years of
their oppression are not to be reckoned into the years of Jair's government
and as commencing from the fourth of it
as Bishop Usher
Lightfoot
and
others; for it does not appear that there was any oppression in his days
but
from the time of his death to the raising up of Jephthah a new judge: and the
people oppressed by the children of Ammon during that time
were all the children of Israel that were on the other side
Jordan
in the land of the Ammonites
which is in Gilead; even the
tribes of Reuben and Gad
and the half tribe of Manasseh.
Judges 10:9 9 Moreover the people of
Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also
against Benjamin
and against the house of Ephraim
so that Israel was severely distressed.
YLT
9And the Bene-Ammon pass
over the Jordan to fight also against Judah
and against Benjamin
and against
the house of Ephraim
and Israel hath great distress.
Moreover
the children of Ammon passed over Jordan
.... Not
content with the oppression of the tribes on the other side Jordan
which had
continued eighteen years
they came over Jordan into the land of Canaan to
ravage that
and bring other of the tribes into subjection to them
particularly the three next mentioned
which lay readiest for them
when they
were come over Jordan:
to fight also against Judah
and against Benjamin
and against the
house of Ephraim who lay to the south and the southeast of the land of Canaan
and
were the first the Ammonites had to fight with and subdue
when they had
crossed Jordan to the east of it:
so that Israel was sore distressed; by the Ammonites in the
east
threatening those three tribes
mentioned
and the Philistines on the
west
who gave disturbance to the tribes that lay nearest them
as Asher
Zebulun
Naphtali
Issachar
and Dan; and this distress was begun the same year
in different parts
by different enemies.
Judges 10:10 10 And the children of Israel
cried out to the Lord
saying
“We have sinned against You
because we have both forsaken our God and
served the Baals!”
YLT
10And the sons of Israel cry
unto Jehovah
saying
`We have sinned against Thee
even because we have forsaken
our God
and serve the Baalim.'
And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord
.... In this
their distress
seeing nothing but ruin and destruction before their eyes
their land being invaded by such powerful enemies in different quarters; this
opened their eyes to a sense of their sins
the cause of it
and brought them
to a confession of them:
saying
we have sinned against thee
both because we have forsaken
our God
and also served Baalim; had been guilty not only of sins of
omission
neglecting the pure of God
but also of sins of commission
even
gross idolatry
in serving Baalim
and other gods
before mentioned.
Judges 10:11 11 So the Lord said to the
children of Israel
“Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and
from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines?
YLT
11And Jehovah saith unto the
sons of Israel
`[Have I] not [saved you] from the Egyptians
and from the
Amorite
from the Bene-Ammon
and from the Philistines?
And the Lord said unto the children of Israel
.... By a
prophet he sent unto them
as Kimchi and Abarbinel
see Judges 6:8
whom
Ben Gersom takes to be Phinehas
but he could not be living at this time; or by
an angel
a created one
sent on this occasion; or the uncreated one
the Son
and Word of God
who might appear in an human form
and to whom all that is
here said is applicable:
did not I deliver you from the Egyptians; by bringing
them out of subjection and bondage to them
and by delivering them out of their
hands at the Red sea:
and from the Amorites; the kings of Sihon and
Og
whose countries were taken from them
and put into their hands
when they
attempted to stop them in their march to the land of Canaan:
from the children of Ammon; when they joined with
the Moabites against them
Judges 3:13.
and from the Philistines? in the times of Shamgar
Judges 3:31.
Judges 10:12 12 Also the Sidonians and
Amalekites and Maonites [b] oppressed
you; and you cried out to Me
and I delivered you from their hand.
YLT
12And the Zidonians
and
Amalek
and Maon have oppressed you
and ye cry unto Me
and I save you out of
their hand;
The Zidonians also
.... Who were left in the land to distress
them
though there is no particular mention of them
and of the distress they
gave them
and of their deliverance from it
which yet is not at all to be
questioned:
and the Amalekites; both quickly after they came out of Egypt
Exodus 17:13 and
when they were come into the land of Canaan
joining the Moabites and the
Midianites against them
Judges 3:13.
and the Maonites did oppress you; meaning either the old
inhabitants of Maon
a city in the mountains of Judah
near to which was a
wilderness of this name
Joshua 15:55 or
rather a people of Arabia
called by StraboF26Geograph. l. 16. p.
528.
and Diodorus SiculusF1Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 176.
Minaeans
the same with Mehunim
mentioned with the Arabians
2 Chronicles 26:7
and who perhaps came along with the Midianites
when they oppressed Israel;
though some have thought of the old inhabitants of Bethmeon and Baalmeon
Numbers 32:38.
and ye cried unto me
and I delivered you out of their hands; all those
mercies and deliverances are mentioned to aggravate their sins
that
notwithstanding the Lord hath so often and eminently appeared for them
yet
they deserted him and his worship
and fell into idolatry. Jarchi observes
that here are seven salvations or deliverances mentioned in opposition to the
seven sorts of false gods or idols they had served
Judges 10:6.
Judges 10:13 13 Yet you have forsaken Me
and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more.
YLT
13and ye -- ye have forsaken
Me
and serve other gods
therefore I add not to save you.
Ye have forsaken me
and served other gods
.... Since
they had been so remarkably saved
time after time
and delivered from so many
powerful enemies
which was dreadful ingratitude:
wherefore I will deliver you no more; which is not
to be understood absolutely
since after this he did deliver them
but
conditionally
unless they repented of their idolatries
and forsook them. This
is said to bring them to a sense of their sin and danger.
Judges 10:14 14 “Go and cry out to the
gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”
YLT
14Go and cry unto the gods on
which ye have fixed; they -- they save you in the time of your adversity.'
Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen
.... For they
were their choice
and not what they were obliged to serve through persecution
and by compulsion of others
and whom they needed not
having the Lord Jehovah
to be their God; and they are bid not seriously
but in an ironical or
sarcastic way
to call upon them for help in this their time of distress
in
whose power it was not to relieve them:
let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation; if they can
whom you have served in your prosperity.
Judges 10:15 15 And the children of Israel
said to the Lord
“We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day
we pray.”
YLT
15And the sons of Israel say
unto Jehovah
`We have sinned
do Thou to us according to all that is good in
Thine eyes; only deliver us
we pray Thee
this day.'
And the children of Israel said unto the Lord
we have sinned
.... By
serving other gods particularly; and they seemed to have a true sense of their
sin
and their confessions of it to be ingenuous
by what follows:
do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; inflict what
punishment he would upon them
as famine or pestilence
they could not but own
it would be just and righteous
and what their sins deserved:
deliver us only
we pray thee
this day; out of the
hands of men; they chose rather to fall into the hands of God; and however he
thought fit to deal with them
they entreated that this once he would save them
out of the hands of their enemies.
Judges 10:16 16 So they put away the
foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul
could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
YLT
16And they turn aside the
gods of the stranger out of their midst
and serve Jehovah
and His soul is
grieved with the misery of Israel.
And they put away the strange gods from among them
.... Which was
an evidence of the truth of their repentance
and showed their confessions and
humiliations to be genuine:
and served the Lord; and him only
both in
private and public; in the observance of duties
both moral and ceremonial; in
an attendance on the service of the sanctuary
and by offering sacrifices to
God there
according to his will:
and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel; which is to
be understood after the manner of men; for grief properly does not belong to
God
there being no passion in him; but it denotes a carriage or behaviour of
his
which shows what looks like sympathy in men; a love and affection for
Israel
notwithstanding their ill behaviour to him
and a change of his
dispensations Providence towards them
according to his unchangeable will; so
MaimonidesF2Moreh Nevochim
par. 1. c. 41. understands it of the
good will and pleasure of God
to cease from afflicting the people of Israel;
but Abarbinel is of opinion that this refers to the soul of Israel
which was
shortened and contracted
as the word signifies
because of the labour of
servitude
the affliction and distress they were in.
Judges 10:17 17 Then the people of Ammon
gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled
together and encamped in Mizpah.
YLT
17And the Bene-Ammon are
called together
and encamp in Gilead
and the sons of Israel are gathered
together
and encamp in Mizpah.
Then the children of Ammon were gathered together
.... By a
crier
as Jarchi; they had passed over Jordan
as in Judges 10:9 and had
been distressing three of the tribes of Israel on that side; but now being
informed
by an herald at arms
that the children of Israel
on the other side
Jordan
were risen up in defence of their country
rights
and liberties
the
children of Ammon came back and crossed over Jordan again:
and encamped in Gilead; in the land of Gilead
part of which belonged to the tribes of Reuben and Gad
and the other part to
the half tribe of Manasseh:
and the children of Israel assembled themselves together
and
encamped at Mizpeh: of which name there were several cities in the land of Israel
on both sides Jordan; this must design a place on the other side Jordan
either
in the tribe of Gad or Manasseh
for it seems there was of this name in each
see Genesis 31:49.
Judges 10:18 18 And the people
the
leaders of Gilead
said to one another
“Who is the man who will begin
the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the
inhabitants of Gilead.”
YLT
18And the people -- heads of
Gilead -- say one unto another
`Who [is] the man that doth begin to fight
against the Bene-Ammon? he is for head to all inhabitants of Gilead.'
And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another
.... Being
thus assembled and encamped:
what man is he that will begin to fight with the children of Ammon? for though
the forces were assembled together for battle
yet it seems they had no general
to command them
and lead them on to it:
he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead
this they
ordered to be proclaimed
to encourage some person to take the command of them
and go before them to battle
promising him that he should be judge or governor
over all the tribes on that side Jordan.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)