Bible Strands
Judges 10:2
Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Judges 10:2 records the conclusion of Tola’s leadership after Abimelech, identifying him as an Issacharite who resided in Shamir within the hill country of Ephraim. The verse functions as a chronological and geographical boundary marking the shift from one judge to the next.
The words — The Hebrew וַיִּשְׁפֹּט (va/yishpot) denotes judicial administration, while עֶשְׂרִים וְשָׁלוֹשׁ שָׁנָה (esrim v'shalosh shanah) specifies a twenty-three-year duration. The verb וַיִּקָּבֵר (va/yikkaber) simply states his interment in Shamir without additional ritual or theological detail.
The thread — This structural marker connects directly to Judges 10:1, which establishes Tola’s geographic base, and Judges 10:3, which introduces Jair’s twenty-two-year tenure. The pattern anchors successive leaders to specific tribal territories and fixed timeframes.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to treat leadership as a bounded administrative period rather than a permanent institution. It grounds historical succession in verifiable timelines and concrete geographic locations.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.