Judges 10:3

"And after him arose Jair, the Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty and two years. And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon."

"Jair the Gileadite" (Judges 10:3). "The name Jair is the same as the N.T. name `Jairus.'"[2] Dalglish pointed out that this and the following verse feature what appears to be a play on words. "J-air, the name of the judge, also appears as `[~a-ir]' meaning `donkey,' and as `[~`ir]' meaning city"![3]

"They rode on thirty ass colts" (Judges 10:4). "The ass was highly esteemed as a beast for riding, and was used by men and women of rank."[4]

Some have imagined a conflict between what is written here and the statement in Numbers 32:39-41, where another Jair, probably an ancestor of this one, named certain cities which he conquered Havoth-Jair, but many Jewish names were repeated generation after generation. Indeed, it is true today. In 1952, this writer met General Ulysses S. Grant in command of a large military unit in Japan, but he was not THE General Grant of the Civil War period, but only a descendant of his.

"Unto this day" (Judges 10:4). This, as we believe would be a reference to the times of Samuel, the most likely author of Judges. Yates referred to the date of the writing of Judges as being approximately, "During the 1050-1000 B.C. era."[5] This would have been either in the reign of King Saul or in the early part of the reign of King David.

"They rode on thirty ass colts" (Judges 10:4). "The times when so many `sons' could ride unhindered would have had to be times of peace, that is, good administration."[6] Strahan, following the lead of early critics, considered the names of Tola and Jair as, "The names, not of individuals, but of clans,"[7] but that foolish error of the radical critics has been refuted by Boling in Anchor Bible, "Recently, scholars have determined these to be historical figures."[8]

"Jair died and was buried in Kamon" (Judges 10:5). Some present-day scholars seem to be agreed that, "The place of Jair's burial is usually identified with Qamm, on the Jordan-Irbid road."[9] However, Dalglish writes that, "The site of Kamon has not been satisfactorily identified."[10]