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, Jude 5:10 and such might be these sons

And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. He had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts.

Rode on ass colts, because horses were scarce there, and were not to be multiplied by the king himself, . Hence their kings and kings’ children used to ride upon mules, 18:9 ,38,39. Compare 12:14. Havoth-jair. Object. These villages were called so before this time from another Jair, . Answ. They are not said to be now first called by that name, but to be still so called, because the old name was revived and confirmed upon this occasion; as Sheba is said to be called Beer-sheba, upon an occasion mentioned , though it was so called before upon a more ancient occasion, . Possibly this Jair had enlarged or fortified these towns, and so they were justly denominated from him, no less than from the former.

Judges 10:4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which [are] in the land of Gilead.Ver. 4. And he had thirty sons.] A happy man if they all proved towardly: otherwise he might be put to wish as Augustus did, Utinam aut caelebs vixissem, aut orbus periissem. That rode on thirty ass colts.] Jair therefore was a man of quality, likely, for birth and wealth: and so fitter for government, ordinarily. See Ecclesiastes 10:17. By the laws of England, noblemen may not be bound to the peace; because it is supposed that the peace is always bound to them, and that of their own accord they will both preserve and promote it.

(4) Had thirty sons.—An indication of his rank and position, which assumed an ostentatious polygamy. (Comp. Judges 8:30.) That rode on thirty ass colts.—Comp. Judges 5:10; see on Judges 12:14. Implying that Jair was able to bring up his numerous household in wealth. The horse was little used in Palestine—for which, indeed, it is little suited—till the days of Solomon (1 Kings 4:26), and its introduction was always discouraged by the prophets (Deuteronomy 17:16; Joshua 11:6-9; Psalms 33:17, &c). There is a curious play of words on Jair (yair), “ass-colts” (ayârîm), and “cities,” which ought to be arîm, but is purposely altered for the sake of the paronomasia. (See on Judges 15:16.) Such plays on words in serious narratives point to a very early form of literature—but probably they then rose from some popular proverb. The LXX., like Josephus, writing for Gentiles, who did not understand the value attached to asses in Palestine, almost always euphemise the word into “colts,” or “foals” (pôlous), which here enables them happily to keep up the play of words with “cities” (poleis).Thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair.—Havoth means villages (LXX., epauleis), and since they are here called “cities,” and thirty are named, we must suppose that this Jair (if he was a different person from the other) had increased the number of the villages originally wrested from Og from twenty-three to thirty (Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; 1 Chronicles 2:22. In the latter passage the Jair there mentioned is spoken of as a son of Segub, and a great-grandson of Manasseh). Unto this day.—Judges 1:26.

Verse 4. He had thirty sons, c.] It appears that there was both peace and prosperity during the time that Jair governed Israel he had, it seems, provided for his family, and given a village to each of his thirty sons; which were, in consequence, called Havoth Jair or the villages of Jair. Their riding on thirty ass colts seems to intimate that they were persons of consideration, and kept up a certain dignity in their different departments.

4. he had thirty sons] Cf. Judges 12:9; Judges 12:14. The ‘sons’ are expressly connected with the thirty settlements of the clan. Numerous descendants indicated power and wealth. that rode on thirty ass colts] A mark of rank; cf. Judges 12:14, 2 Kings 4:22, Zechariah 9:9; see on Judges 5:10. Havvoth-jair] i.e. tent-villages (LXX ἐπαύλεις) of Jair; cf. Arab. ḥ ?iwβ = ‘a group of tents near together.’ Long after the tents of nomads had given place to permanent dwellings or ‘cities’ the old name still survived. The Havvoth-jair are frequently mentioned, but the accounts of them are not all consistent. Here and in Numbers 32:41 they are said to have been situated in Gilead; 1 Kings 4:13 (prob. borrowed from Num. l.c.) and 1 Chronicles 2:22 agree with this. But according to Deuteronomy 3:14, followed by Joshua 13:30, they lay in Bashan; the statement, however, seems to be due to an attempt to harmonize Deuteronomy 3:13 f. with Numbers 32:39; Numbers 32:41 (Driver, Deut., p. 55). Again, the capture and naming of these towns is dated in different periods, in the time of Moses according to Num. l.c., and in the time of the Judges here. But the inconsistency lies only on the surface. Numbers 32:39-42 is an ancient fragment incorporated into a later account (JE and P) of the conquest of E. Jordan, apparently for the purpose of bringing Manasseh’s occupation of this district within the Mosaic period; the fragment closely resembles the brief traditions preserved in Judges 1 and may be taken to refer to the same period, viz. that of the Judges, to which the present verse assigns the episode. Later on the Havvoth-jair seem to have passed into the hands of another race, cf. 1 Chronicles 2:23 (RV.), which probably reflects the conditions of a subsequent age. The difference in the numbers of the villages, thirty, thirty-two (LXX here), twenty-three (1 Chronicles 2:22), is not important.

4. Thirty sons… thirty ass colts… thirty cities — These facts are mentioned to show the power, dignity, and wealth of the house of Jair. Havoth-jair — That is, villages of Jair.