If you are looking for Judges 10 Bible study questions, this page gives you a full set of observation, interpretation and application questions, with leader’s notes for each one. The chapter is short and covers two brief judges, Tola and Jair, then a cycle of rebellion, oppression and cries for help that ends with Israel gathering for war. These questions suit a small group, a Sunday class or personal study, and each answer points you back to the text.
Judges 10 at a Glance
Judges 10 moves through three movements. First, two minor judges, Tola and Jair, lead Israel for a long stretch of years, and the chapter records little more than their names, places and lengths of service. Second, Israel returns to the worship of foreign gods, and the LORD allows oppression from the Philistines and Ammonites. Third, the people confess their sin and put away their idols, and the chapter closes with the Ammonites and Israelites camped against each other in Gilead, looking for a leader.
The pattern of sin, distress, repentance and deliverance runs through the book of Judges. Judges 10 gives you the last half of that pattern in its clearest form, which is why it works well for a discussion about how God responds to his people.
Observation Questions
Use these questions at the start of the session to get the group reading closely and noticing details before anyone offers an opinion. Let people answer from the text itself, and wait a moment before supplying the answer yourself.
Judges 10:6
The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the LORD, and didn’t serve him.
(WEB)
Read this verse first to show the group the scale of Israel’s turning away. Ask them to notice how many gods are named and what the verse says about abandoning the LORD.
Judges 10:10-14
10 The children of Israel cried to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.” 11 The LORD said to the children of Israel, “Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!”
(WEB)
This is the heart of the cry and God’s reply. Reading it aloud lets the group hear the tension between the people’s confession and the LORD’s sharp reminder of their history.
Judges 10:15
The children of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned! Do you to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.”
(WEB)
A short, honest prayer that many people find easy to remember. Read it slowly and ask the group what makes it different from the earlier cry in verse 10.
Judges 10:16
They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served the LORD; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
(WEB)
Reading this verse aloud helps the group see God’s compassion. It is worth pausing on the phrase about his soul being grieved, since it shapes how the whole chapter should be understood.
Judges 10:18
The people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
(WEB)
End the reading with this unanswered question. It invites the group to carry the chapter’s tension into the next part of the story and into their own lives.
Memory Verse for Judges 10
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as people who, like Israel, have sometimes turned to other things when we are afraid or tired. Thank you that you hear our cries and that your heart is moved by our misery. Help us to name our failures plainly, as the people did, and to put away whatever has taken your place in our lives. Give us the courage to step forward where you are calling us, and the trust to leave the outcome in your hands. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
