Jair
First appears at Numbers 32:41
First named in Scripture at Numbers 32:41 — read the chapter.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
enlightener. (1.) The son of Segub. He was brought up with his mother in Gilead, where he had possessions (1 Chronicles 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” (Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30). (2.) The eighth judge of Israel, which he ruled for twenty-two years. His opulence is described in Judges 10:3-5. He had thirty sons, each riding on “ass colts.” They had possession of thirty of the sixty cities (1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles 2:23) which formed the ancient Havoth-jair. (3.) A Benjamite, the father of Mordecai, Esther’s uncle (Esther 2:5). (4.) The father of Elhanan, who slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath (1 Chronicles 20:5).