Judg 10:1-5 | KingComments | STEP | The short reign of Abimelech has created a lot of history. Now we hear of two judges about whom little is mentioned, but who have governed for a long time. Together they govern for no less than forty-five years. They form a contrast with Abimelech and are a correction to his government or a remedy for it. It has been said: fortunately the people who have no history, because history is often nothing more than a story of sin, sadness and suffering. The long chapter on Abimelech is an illustration of this. Abimelech had plunged the land into chaos and left it there. In this way, a local church can also be destroyed by the ‘mismanagement’ of overseers. There is a need for ‘Tola brothers’ and ‘Jair brothers’. We will see what they represent. We read nothing about great deeds of either of the judges. All they did was to keep peace among the people of God. After Abimelech’s abuse of power, this must have been a relief for the people. We don’t know much about this judge, but we may be able to learn something from the meaning of his name. Tola means ‘a worm’. This already contrasts enormously with Abimelech. The worm speaks of humility and stands opposite to the man who exalted himself. Tola is “the son of Puah, the son of Dodo”. Puah means ‘expression’, ‘speaking’ and Dodo means ‘his beloved’, ‘belonging to love’. Here we can observe that everything he says has its origin in love. The consciousness of Divine love is the source from which everything originates. As a result, whoever is aware of being the object of this love will speak about it (Puah) and have a humble mind (Tola). This is the answer to what people like Abimelech are and have done, and the result is the salvation of Israel. Tola is a picture of Him Who revealed in perfection the mind of humility and redeemed His people. The Lord Jesus prophetically says: “I am a worm and not a man” ( ). This was His attitude toward all pride and seeking own honor of the religious leaders in Israel. Tola lives in Shamir, which means among other things ‘diamond’. This name speaks on one side of shine and brilliance and on the other side of hardness, strength, inalterability. So it is also with a real mind of humility. It is full of brilliance and attraction for those who have an eye for it, and no insult or lack of understanding will change that mind. Tola is buried where he lived. Perhaps we can apply it in such a way that his life has been a consistent life, without deviating from the principles expressed in it. His death did not change the ideas he had been standing for.

‏ Judges 10:1-5

Introduction

The short reign of Abimelech has created a lot of history. Now we hear of two judges about whom little is mentioned, but who have governed for a long time. Together they govern for no less than forty-five years. They form a contrast with Abimelech and are a correction to his government or a remedy for it. It has been said: fortunately the people who have no history, because history is often nothing more than a story of sin, sadness and suffering. The long chapter on Abimelech is an illustration of this.

Abimelech had plunged the land into chaos and left it there. In this way, a local church can also be destroyed by the ‘mismanagement’ of overseers. There is a need for ‘Tola brothers’ and ‘Jair brothers’. We will see what they represent. We read nothing about great deeds of either of the judges. All they did was to keep peace among the people of God. After Abimelech’s abuse of power, this must have been a relief for the people.

Tola

We don’t know much about this judge, but we may be able to learn something from the meaning of his name. Tola means ‘a worm’. This already contrasts enormously with Abimelech. The worm speaks of humility and stands opposite to the man who exalted himself. Tola is “the son of Puah, the son of Dodo”. Puah means ‘expression’, ‘speaking’ and Dodo means ‘his beloved’, ‘belonging to love’. Here we can observe that everything he says has its origin in love.

The consciousness of Divine love is the source from which everything originates. As a result, whoever is aware of being the object of this love will speak about it (Puah) and have a humble mind (Tola). This is the answer to what people like Abimelech are and have done, and the result is the salvation of Israel.

Tola is a picture of Him Who revealed in perfection the mind of humility and redeemed His people. The Lord Jesus prophetically says: “I am a worm and not a man” (Psa 22:6a). This was His attitude toward all pride and seeking own honor of the religious leaders in Israel.

Tola lives in Shamir, which means among other things ‘diamond’. This name speaks on one side of shine and brilliance and on the other side of hardness, strength, inalterability. So it is also with a real mind of humility. It is full of brilliance and attraction for those who have an eye for it, and no insult or lack of understanding will change that mind.

Tola is buried where he lived. Perhaps we can apply it in such a way that his life has been a consistent life, without deviating from the principles expressed in it. His death did not change the ideas he had been standing for.

Jair

The successor of Tola is Jair. His name means ‘illuminator’. He seems to be someone who spreads light around him, Divine light. If we connect his name with that of Tola, then we can say that the mind of ‘worm’ leads to insight that can be passed on. The name Gilead speaks of this passing on, which means ‘witness’.

In Jair’s life, expansion becomes visible. He first has twenty-three cities (Num 32:41; 1Chr 2:22). That has become thirty in the verses we have before us now. We also see that through the lives of his thirty sons the light of their father is spread further. This is expressed in the meaning of the name “villages of Jair”. What has been translated as ‘the villages of Jair’ literally means ‘the lives of Jair’. Where Jair’s sons live, they reveal the light that radiates from Jair’s life. Thus the light expands.

The donkeys they ride on are a symbol of prosperity and a reign in peace. The Lord Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey (Zec 9:9; Mt 21:1-11; Jn 12:12-15).

Jair’s sons are rulers, but without claiming leadership. They are leaders in practice. They each have their own small circle (village) for which they are responsible. In the same way, every believer has his own small circle where he has responsibilities. This concerns his place in the family, in the church and in the world, in society.

Just as the cities where the sons live are reproductions of the city of their father, so may the believers let shine the light of God in their lives. The believers are now “the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). They may be in their lives “reproductions” of Christ Who is “the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12).

There are thirty sons. The number thirty can be divided into ten times three. Ten is the number representing responsibility (think of the ten commandments); three is the number representing full revelation (think of the triune God revealed in Christ).

We can also see in all this a reference to the millennial realm of peace. Then Christ will reign and all believers may share in His reign and everyone will have authority over a number of cities according to the faithfulness shown during the absence of Christ (Lk 19:11-27). In that time Christ will rise as “the sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2) and shine as the true Jair, the ‘Illuminator’. Then He will be seen in glory. This glory will be given to Him by God because He first humbled Himself so much and became a “worm” that was represented to us in Tola.

The ‘worm’ is found in the rejection of Christ and the ‘sun’ in His glorification. The rejection and the glorification are beautifully described in Philippians 2 (Phil 2:5-11).

Jair is buried in Kamon, which means ‘resurrection’, ‘life from the dead’.