Judges 10 is the tenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel,[1] [2] but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans in the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE.[2] This chapter records the activities of judge Tola and Jair. belonging to a section comprising Judges 6 to 9 and a bigger section of Judges 6:1 to 16:31.
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 18 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B;
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A linguistic study by Chisholm reveals that the central part in the Book of Judges (Judges 3:7–16:31) can be divided into two panels based on the six refrains that state that the Israelites did evil in Yahweh's eyes:
Panel One
A 3:7 Hebrew: ויעשו בני ישראל את הרע בעיני יהוה
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the [3]
B 3:12 Hebrew: ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
B 4:1 Hebrew: ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
Panel Two
A 6:1 Hebrew: ויעשו בני ישראל הרע בעיני יהוה
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
B 10:6 Hebrew: ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
B 13:1 Hebrew: ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
Furthermore from the linguistic evidence, the verbs used to describe the Lord's response to Israel's sin have chiastic patterns and can be grouped to fit the division above:
Panel One
3:8 Hebrew: וימכרם, "and he sold them," from the root Hebrew: מָכַר,
3:12 Hebrew: ויחזק, "and he strengthened," from the root Hebrew: חָזַק,
4:2 Hebrew: וימכרם, "and he sold them," from the root Hebrew: מָכַר,
Panel Two
6:1 Hebrew: ויתנם, "and he gave them," from the root Hebrew: נָתַן,
10:7 Hebrew: וימכרם, "and he sold them," from the root Hebrew: מָכַר,
13:1 Hebrew: ויתנם, "and he gave them," from the root Hebrew: נָתַן,
Verse 6 of chapter 10 starts a section of Jephthah's Narrative, which can be divided into 5 episodes, each with a distinct dialogue, as follows:
| Episode | Verses | Dialogue | Verses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. | 10:6–16 | Israel and Yahweh | 10–15 | |
| B. The Ammonite threat | 10:17–11:11 | The elders and Jephthah | 5–11 | |
| C. | 11:12–28 | Jephthah and the Ammonite king | 12–28 | |
| B'. The Ammonite defeat | 11:29–40 | Jephthah and his daughter | 34–38 | |
| A'. | 12:1–7 | Jephthah and the Ephraimites | 1–4a |
The judge Tola (and also the next one, Jair) has only an abbreviated notes of probably a larger tradition that might be well-known in the past (cf. Othniel in Judges 3:7–11 and Samgar in 3:31).
And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim.[4]
And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.[7]
Jair of Gilead judged Israel after the crisis that Tola faced had passed, because the reference to his wealth (that he had "thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities…"; cf. Judges 12:9–14) indicates a time of peace and prosperity, with no preparation for the incoming invasion of the Ammonites that would follow at the end of 22 years of his rule. The 30 cities in the land of Gilead seems to be related with those in the Bashan (cf. 1 Kings 4:13).[8] The notice of the cities suggests what interesting offer Gilead could give to a new leader who would fight for them and why Jephthah would find it attractive. Jair was buried in Camon (Qamon), identified as modern Qamm north of Tayyiba in northern Galilee.[8]
This section opens the Jephthah Narrative with a 'conventionalized pattern'—death of judge, backsliding, cry for help— and resumes with a review Israel's major enemies, In the specific dialogue between the Israelites and YHWH (verses 10–16) Israel confessed her sins of idolatry, then YHWH described his previous saving actions against Israel's unfaithfulness (cf. Hosea 7:11–16), and Israel repented (cf. similar pattern of motifs in Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, and 2 Chronicles 20; by contrition of people and leaders 2 Chronicles 20:12; 16:8; 12:6–7), so YHWH took pity upon Israel (cf. Exodus 2:23–25) and would send a rescuer.
And 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 children of Ammon.[9]