Jair

The name Jair belongs to several men, and the first and clearest is Jair the son of Manasseh. On the east side of the Jordan he took a group of small towns and named them after himself, Havothjair, and later writers still speak of these as “the towns of Jair” in Gilead and Bashan. Other men in the record share the name, among them the father of Elhanan, who struck down a brother of Goliath in a later war with the Philistines. The verses are brief, so the story is mainly about land and families settling. Numbers 32 and Deuteronomy 3 describe Jair’s conquest best.

5 verses

Numbers

Numbers 32:41

And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havothjair.

Deuteronomy

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

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:

1 Kings

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

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.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

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 Kings 4:13; 1 Chr. 2:23) which formed the ancient Havoth-jair.

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(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 Chr. 20:5).

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(enlightener).

(1.) A man who on his father’s side was descended from Judah, and on his mother’s from Manasseh. (B.C. 1451.) During, the conquest he took the whole of the tract of Argob (3:14) and in addition possessed himself of some nomad villages in Gilead, which he called after his own name Havoth-Jair. (Numbers 32:41; 1 Chronicles 2:23)

(2.) JAIR THE GILEADITE, who judged Israel for two-and-twenty years. (Judges 10:3-5) (B.C. 1160.) He had thirty sons, and possessed thirty cities in the land of Gilead, which like those of their namesakes were called Havoth-jair.

(3.) A Benjamite, son of Kish and father of Mordecai. (Esther 2:5) (B.C. before 598.)

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(4.) The father of Elhanan, one of the heroes of David’s army. (1 Chronicles 20:6)