Havvoth-Jair
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [1]
Havvoth-Jair . The precise meaning of Havvoth is uncertain, but it is taken usually to mean ‘tent-villages.’ In Numbers 32:41 these villages are assigned to Gilead, but in Deuteronomy 3:14 and Joshua 13:30 to Bashan. The difficulty is caused by the attempt of the editors in the last two passages to harmonize the reference in Numbers with the tradition about the sixty fortresses of 1 Kings 4:18 . There is no doubt that the Jair of Numbers and the Jair of Judges are identical.
W. F. Cobb.
Holman Bible Dictionary [2]
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [3]
hav - oth - jā´ı̄r ( חוּת יאיר , ḥawwōth yā'ı̄r "the encampments" or "tent villages of Jair"; the King James Version Havoth-Jair , hā - voth - jā´ir ): The word ḥawwōth occurs only in this combination ( Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; Judges 10:4 ), and is a legacy from the nomadic stage of Hebrew life. Jair had thirty sons who possessed thirty "cities," and these are identified with Havvoth-jair in Judges 10:3 . The district was in Gilead ( Judges 10:5; Numbers 32:41 ). In Deuteronomy 3:13 f, it is identified with Bashan and Argob; but in 1 Kings 4:13 , "the towns of Jair" are said to be in Gilead; while to him also "pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars." There is evident confusion here. If we follow Judges 10:3 , we may find a useful clue in Judges 10:5 . Kamon is named as the burial place of Jair. This probably corresponds to Kamun taken by Antiochus III, on his march from Pella to Gephrun (Polyb. v.70, 12). Schumacher ( Northern ‛Ajlūn , 137) found two places to the West of Irbid with the names Ḳamm and Ḳumeim (the latter a diminutive of the former) with ancient ruins. Ḳamm probably represents the Hebrew Ḳāmōn , so that Havvoth-jair should most likely be sought in this district, i.e. in North Gilead, between the Jordan Valley and Jebel ez - Zumleh .
