Judges 10 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Roughly 1120 to 1100 BC, late in the era of the judges, before Israel had a king
Location
The central hill country of Israel, plus Gilead, the Israelite territory east of the Jordan River in what is now northern Jordan
Audience
Israelites of a later generation, most likely readers in the early monarchy, being shown why the tribes needed steady leadership
Situation
Two minor judges, Tola and Jair, lead Israel in peace, and then the people worship the gods of the surrounding nations. Ammonite forces from east of the Jordan crush the Israelites in Gilead for eighteen years, and when Israel finally cries out for help God at first refuses and tells them to call on the gods they chose.
Key Background
Ancient Near Eastern peoples generally assumed each nation had its own patron god who protected its land, so an Israelite might add Baal, Ashtoreth, or the gods of Ammon and Moab as extra insurance rather than as an outright rejection of the God of Israel. The list of foreign gods in this chapter names the deities of every neighbouring state at once, which is the writer's way of saying Israel had abandoned any distinct identity. Jair's thirty sons riding thirty donkeys and holding thirty towns is a picture of wealth and clan power, since donkeys, not horses, were the mount of rank in this period.
After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, rose up to Israel. He was from the tribe of and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
He Israel for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.
After him, Jair the rose up and led Israel for twenty-two years.
He had sons who and they controlled towns in the land of Gilead — which are still called to this day.
Then Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
Then the Israelites again did what was in They served the and the the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They Yahweh completely and stopped serving him.
So Yahweh with against Israel and them to the Philistines and the Ammonites.
That year they and the Israelites. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites living beyond the Jordan in the Amorite territory of Gilead.
The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was in
Then the Israelites out to Yahweh, saying, "We have you — we abandoned you, our God, and served the Baals."
Yahweh answered the Israelites: "Didn't I you from Egypt, from the Amorites, from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines?"
"The Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the also oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I rescued you from their power."
"But you — you me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you again."
"Go out to the gods you chose! Let them rescue you in your of
But the Israelites said to Yahweh, "We've failed you. Do to you. Just please — rescue us today."
Then they of the foreign gods among them and served Yahweh. And he could no to
The Ammonites were up for and camped in Gilead. The Israelites assembled and camped at
The people and the of Gilead said to each other, "Whoever steps up to lead the attack against the Ammonites — he will be the of everyone living in Gilead."