1 Kings 4:13

the son of Geber Better, Ben-Geber. The name -Geber" occurs again in 1 Kings 4:19, but whether the same person is meant by it there is nothing to shew. It is only found in these two places.

in Ramoth-gilead We now come to the mountainous district on the eastern side of the Jordan, in which were settled the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh.

the towns of Jair As the Hebrew word (havvoth) rendered -towns" is found only in this connexion it is better to treat it as a part of the proper name and render Havvoth-Jair. About these -towns" there is some difficulty. They are first mentioned (Numbers 32:41) as -small towns" in Gilead, and occupied by Jair the son of Manasseh. They are mentioned again (Deuteronomy 3:14) and said (Joshua 13:30) to be in Bashan and to be 60 in number, whereas in 1 Chronicles 2:23 they are counted as 60 only with the addition of certain other places. In this chapter the question is, are the Havvoth-Jair included in the region of Argob or not? As there is no conjunction, between the two clauses, it seems most natural to take the latter as a fuller definition of the former. -To him belonged Havvoth-Jair, even the region of Argob &c." This has the advantage of coupling with Havvoth-Jair the number 60 which plays such a part in the other passages quoted above.

In Judges 10:4 where the Havvoth-Jair are again mentioned, though they are connected with the history of the judge who was so called, yet there is nothing to indicate that the naming of the cities was due to him. As Jair the son of Manasseh first occupied these places, it is likely that his name would become a common one. The sons of Jair the judge held but half the number of the towns, but that is no evidence that the other thirty were then non-existent or that they were not also included in the name Havvoth-Jair, but in the hands of different governors.

in Gilead Gilead is the name of that mountainous district, east of the Jordan, which had on the north the country of Bashan and on the south Moab and Ammon. Its chief towns were Ramoth-gilead and Jabesh-gilead. Sometimes also Jaazer is counted as belonging to it.

Argob The district which in later times was called Trachonitis. (See Deuteronomy 3:4.)

Bashan The country which lay immediately north of Gilead, and stretched northwards to Mount Hermon.

great citieswith walls and brasen bars The cities of this district are so described Deuteronomy 3:5, and there still are found in this neighbourhood ruins of walled cities (see Bunsen's Bibelwerkin loc.). As the armaments and modes of warfare were of a much more primitive character than in later times, we need not picture to ourselves from this description fortifications such as would now deserve the name.