Jair
Enlightener. (1.) The son of Segub. He was brought up with his mother in Gilead, where he had possessions (1 Chr 2:22). He distinguished himself in an expedition against Bashan, and settled in the part of Argob on the borders of Gilead. The small towns taken by him there are called Havoth-jair, i.e., “Jair’s villages” (Num 32:41; Deut 3:14; Josh 13:30).
(2.) The eighth judge of Israel, which he ruled for twenty-two years. His opulence is described in Judg 10:3–5. He had thirty sons, each riding on “ass colts.” They had possession of thirty of the sixty cities (1 Kgs 4:13; 1 Chr 2:23) which formed the ancient Havoth-jair.
(3.) A Benjamite, the father of Mordecai, Esther’s uncle (Esth 2:5).
(4.) The father of Elhanan, who slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath (1 Chr 20:5).
Named in the Bible
10 verses
- Numbers 32:41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havothjair.
- Deuteronomy 3:14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.
- Joshua 13:30 And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities:
- Judges 10:3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.
- Judges 10:5 And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
- 1 Kings 4:13 The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:
- 1 Chronicles 2:22 And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead.
- 1 Chronicles 2:23 And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, even threescore cities. All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.
- 1 Chronicles 20:5 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam.
- Esther 2:5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
