Jair
“He enlightens or gives light”
Summary
A name borne by four men in the Old Testament, most notably a descendant of Manasseh who conquered the region of Argob and a judge who led Israel for twenty-two years.
☩Jair Son of Segub
The most prominent Jair was a descendant of both Judah and Manasseh through an intermarriage. He was the son of Segub, who was the son of Hezron of Judah, but his grandmother was the daughter of Machir of Manasseh. This dual lineage explains why he is sometimes called a 'son of Manasseh' despite his Judahite father. During the conquest under Moses, Jair distinguished himself by taking the entire tract of Argob in Bashan, along with nomad villages in Gilead, which he renamed Havoth-jair ('villages of Jair'). Some traditions suggest the original number of these villages was twenty-three, later increasing to thirty.
☩Jair the Judge
A Gileadite named Jair judged Israel for twenty-two years during the period of the judges. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and possessed thirty cities in Gilead, also called Havoth-jair. Some scholars identify this Jair with the earlier conqueror, suggesting that Manasseh's settlement in northern Gilead occurred after Israel crossed the Jordan rather than before. Others reconcile the accounts by interpreting 'son' in a non-literal sense, allowing for both figures to be historical persons.
☩Other Men Named Jair
Two other men bear this name in Scripture. One was a Benjamite, the son of Kish and father of Mordecai. The other was the father of Elhanan, one of David's mighty warriors who slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. In the parallel account in 2 Samuel 21:19, this name appears as 'Jaare-oregim,' though scholars believe 'oregim' crept in through a copyist's error from the line below.
Related Verses11 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Jair," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Jair," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.George Morrish, "Jair," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Jair," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).