Jair was judge of Israel from 1210 to 1188 b.c., or from 241 to 263 years after the date assigned for the writing of the Pentateuch.
20. “And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name” (Num. xxxii, 42).
Referring to this and the preceding passage, Dr. Oort says: “It is certain that Jair, the Gileadite, the conqueror of Bashan, after whom thirty places were called Jair’s villages, lived in the time of the Judges, and that a part of Bashan was conquered at a still later period by a certain Nobah” (Bible for Learners, vol. i, p. 329).
21. “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, Bashan-havoth-jair, unto this day” (Deut. iii, 14).
Even if Jair had lived in the time of Moses, the phrase “unto this day” shows that it was written long after the event described.
22. “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan” (Gen. xiv, 14).
This passage could not have been written before Dan existed. In Judges (xviii, 26–29) the following account of the origin of this place is given: “And the children of Dan went their way; ... and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.... And they built a city, and dwelt therein. And they called the name of the city Dan.” This is placed after the death of Samson, and Samson died, according to Bible chronology, 1120 B.C.—331 years after Moses died.
23. “And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel” (Gen. xxxvi, 31).
This could not have been written before the kingdom of Israel was established; for the writer is familiar with the fact that kings have reigned in Israel. Saul, the first king of Israel, began to reign 356 years after Moses.
24. “And his [Israel’s] king shall be higher than Agag” (Num. xxiv, 7).