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Judges 10

Judges 10 confronts Israel’s repeated abandonment of YHWH, then records repentance and divine grief before any rescue comes.

Tola and then Jair judge Israel after Abimelech, and the account records their years of rule and burial places. Israel then abandons YHWH for the gods of surrounding peoples. YHWH hands them over to Philistine and Ammonite oppression. When Israel cries for help, he confronts them with their repeated desertion. They confess, remove their foreign gods, and serve him. The chapter closes with armies gathering in Gilead and Israel still seeking someone to lead the fight.

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1After Abimelech, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
4He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts. They had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
6The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the LORD, and didn’t serve him.
7The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon.
8They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was very distressed.
10The children of Israel cried to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.”
11The LORD said to the children of Israel, “Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
12The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand.
13Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more.
14Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!”
15The children of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.”
16They put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
17Then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpah.
18The people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Judges 10:6The long list of foreign gods shows the breadth of Israel’s desertion and explains the judgment that follows.
Judges 10:7Israel’s oppression is presented as YHWH’s judgment, with both Philistines and Ammonites gaining power over them.
Judges 10:16Israel’s confession takes visible form as they remove foreign gods, while YHWH grieves over their misery.
Where this chapter reaches

Deuteronomy shares the warning that abandoning YHWH for other gods brings defeat, while 1 Samuel also links returning to YHWH with removing foreign gods. Psalm recounts Israel’s repeated rebellion, oppression, and cries for help, alongside God’s compassion toward their distress.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What changes between Israel’s first cry for help and their actions in verse 16?

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What stands out to you about God’s response to Israel while their military danger remains unresolved?

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Questions people ask about Judges 10

Why does God refuse to save Israel in Judges 10?

YHWH points to his past rescues and Israel’s repeated choice to forsake him. His refusal in verses 13–14 exposes the failure of the gods they have chosen. Israel then confesses again and removes those gods. The chapter records God’s grief over their misery, but ends before a rescue occurs.

What does Judges 10:16 mean by “his soul was grieved”?

The phrase describes YHWH’s grief over Israel’s misery after they put away foreign gods and serve him. It reveals his compassion within an account that also affirms his anger at their unfaithfulness. The verse does not describe a rescue yet; the Ammonite threat remains at the chapter’s close.

Who were Tola and Jair in Judges 10?

Tola was a man of Issachar who lived in Shamir and judged Israel for twenty-three years after Abimelech. Jair was a Gileadite who judged for twenty-two years. His thirty sons rode thirty donkey colts and held thirty cities. The account gives no details of battles or particular acts of deliverance under either judge.

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Judges · 21 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).