Person Old Testament
Tola
Tola, the son of Puah, was a judge of Israel who ruled for 23 years after Abimelech's death. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Judges 10:1.
Why it matters. Judge of Israel who succeeded Abimelech
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Tola
Tola was a judge of Israel who succeeded Abimelech and ruled for 23 years (Jdg.10.1-2). He was the son of Puah and the grandson of Dodo from the tribe of Issachar. Tola lived and was buried in Shamir, located in the hill country of Ephraim. His name means "crimson worm" or "scarlet stuff." Despite being one of the judges, the biblical account provides no details about Tola's deeds or accomplishments during his leadership. The brief mention of his reign serves as a transition between the tumultuous rule of Abimelech and the subsequent judge, Jair.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Puah
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Judges (1 verse)