hav-oth-ja'-ir (chawwoth ya'ir "the encampments" or "tent villages of Jair"; the King James Version Havoth-Jair, ha-voth-ja'ir): The word chawwoth occurs only in this combination (Nu 32:41;De 3:14;Jud 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 inJud 10:3ff. The district was in Gilead (10:5;Nu 32:41). InDe 3:13f, it is identified with Bashan and Argob; but in1Ki 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 followJud 10:3ff, we may find a useful clue in 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 `Ajlun, 137) found two places to the West of Irbid with the names Qamm and Qumeim (the latter a diminutive of the former) with ancient ruins. Qamm probably represents the Hebrew Qamon, 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.
W. Ewing