Thirty for Thirty
Monday, March 10
Thirty for Thirty
Judges 10:3-4
After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
Jair may have been the humblest guy in all the world, but he’s still the sort you wouldn’t want to invite over for a dinner party, right? For every little story you’d give about your kids or your vacation or your farm, he’d have thirty more to top them. You’d show off the blueprint for a downtown shop you just got a bank loan for, and he’d show you the blueprints for an entire city he’s currently building with his eldest sons. He’s Solomon before Solmon, a guy who seemed to have the Midas touch, yet the more striking thing here is that wealth, prosperity, and notoriety haven’t derailed his testimony. It seems like Judges 10:3-4 should read like this: “After him arose Jair the Gileadite … who did evil in the sight of the LORD,” but that doesn’t seem to be the reality. In fact, the deeper we delve into this brief description of Jair’s posterity, the more awe-inspiring his example appears.
For one thing, recall how Abimelech killed all seventy of his brothers (minus the youngest) in his lust for power, which is tragically closer to the rule in the ancient world than the exception. Civil war just goes with the territory of tribal leadership. Even David’s sons will later war over Isreal’s throne, and so, too, Solomon’s; so brotherly rivalry isn’t just a pagan problem—it’s a human problem. That’s why I’m stunned by this description in Judges 10 of Jair’s thirty sons with thirty donkeys over thirty cities. Think of it, friend: Jair didn’t pass down one donkey to his eldest son, dress him in a handwoven coat of many colors, as it were, and set the stage for a bloody family feud. Rather, it seems that he divided his inheritance equally among his boys. From the youngest to the oldest, he imparted to each son a donkey to ride and a city to steward.
On the surface, this biblical picture is one of wealth and affluence, but the deeper, more resonant portrait is of a loving father who shows no partiality, and of unified brothers who steward their inheritance rather than war for dominance.