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BOOK 7 OF 66 · HISTORY · KING JAMES BIBLE

Judges 10

Judges book home•Chapter 10 of 21•18 verses
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REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Judges 10 Overview

After Abimelech’s violent rule, Tola and Jair judge Israel for many years with little narrative detail. Israel then falls into unusually broad idolatry, serving the gods of several surrounding peoples and forsaking the LORD. The LORD gives Israel into Philistine and Ammonite oppression. When the people cry for help, he confronts their repeated apostasy; they put away the strange gods, and the chapter ends with Israel and Ammon gathering for battle while Gilead seeks a leader.

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10Chapter
18Verses
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Before you read Judges 10

Coming from

Chapter 9 ended with God’s judgment destroying Abimelech and the men of Shechem.

In this chapter

Two quieter judges provide stability, but Israel then enters another deep apostasy that leads to oppression on both sides of the Jordan.

Leads into

Chapter 11 introduces Jephthah, the rejected Gileadite warrior whom the elders call back to lead them against Ammon.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The list of gods in verse 6 is deliberately broad and shows Israel adopting worship from multiple surrounding nations. When Israel cries out, the LORD reminds them of earlier deliverances and exposes the emptiness of repeatedly returning to idols. His words, 'Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen,' are judicial rebuke, not a denial of mercy forever. The people then confess, put away strange gods, and serve the LORD; the text says his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

Repeated deliverance should have produced covenant faithfulness, but Israel repeatedly returns to other gods.

Truth 2

False gods that attract Israel in prosperity cannot save them when oppression comes.

Truth 3

Israel’s confession is accompanied by removing the strange gods and returning to the LORD’s service within the covenant setting.

Truth 4

God’s compassion is displayed alongside his rebuke and judgment; he is grieved for Israel’s misery.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Judges 2:11–19 established the recurring cycle that reaches another low point here.

Connection 2

1 Samuel 12:10 recalls Israel confessing, 'We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth,' when Samuel reviews the judges period.

Connection 3

Psalm 106:43–45 similarly remembers Israel’s repeated rebellion and God’s repeated regard for their affliction.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Israel’s national confession and removal of idols concern restoration within the Mosaic covenant and deliverance from temporal oppression; do not turn this episode into a requirement that a person must clean up sins before receiving eternal life.

Keep this clear 2

The LORD’s statement that he 'will deliver you no more' functions in a confrontation that leads to renewed mercy in the continuing narrative; it should not be isolated from the verses that follow.

Keep this clear 3

The brief notices about Tola and Jair are not meaningless filler. They mark years of leadership and stability between violent crises.

Read Judges 10 watching for…

The contrast between the brief judgeships and the detailed apostasy that follows.

How many different foreign gods Israel is said to serve.

The LORD’s reminder of previous deliverances.

What Israel actually does after confessing sin.

The unresolved question at the end: who will lead Gilead against Ammon?

TWBC REVIEW STANDARD

Plain language. Scripture first. Fact distinguished from inference. No filler. No fake certainty. Designed to help you read the Bible itself.

Chapter outline4 sections
1-5Tola and Jair judge Israel6-9Israel again serves other gods and is oppressed10-16Israel confesses its sin and puts away strange gods17-18Gilead gathers against Ammon and seeks a leader
1

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.

2

And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

3

And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.

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.

5

And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.

6

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.

7

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.

8

And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

9

Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

10

And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

11

And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

12

The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.

13

Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

14

Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

15

And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.

16

And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

17

Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.

18

And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.