One of Issachar’s sons who migrated to Egypt under Jacob and founded a tribal family (<bibleref ref="Gen.46.1-Gen.46.13">Gen.46.1-Gen.46.13</bibleref>).Son of Puah, of the tribe of Issachar, who judged Israel twenty-three years (<bibleref ref="Judg.10.1-Judg.10.2">Judg.10.1-Judg.10.2</bibleref>).

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<h2>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)</h2>

(tola`, "worm" or "scarlet stuff"):<br /><br />

(1) One of the four sons of Issachar (<bibleref ref="Gen.46.13">Ge 46:13</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="1Chr.7.1">1Ch 7:1</bibleref>), mentioned among those who journeyed to Egypt with Jacob (<bibleref ref="Gen.46.8-Gen.46.34">Ge 46:8 f</bibleref>), and in the census taken by Moses and Eleazar, as father of the Tolaites (<bibleref ref="Num.26.23">Nu 26:23</bibleref>) whose descendants in the reign of David included 22,600 "mighty men of valor" (<bibleref ref="1Chr.7.2">1Ch 7:2</bibleref>).

(2) One of the Judges, the son of Puah, a man of Isaachar. He dwelt in the hill country of Ephraim in the village of Shamir, where after judging Israel 23 years he was buried (<bibleref ref="Judg.10.1">Jud 10:1</bibleref>,<bibleref ref="Judg.10.2">2</bibleref>). In the order of succession he is placed between Abimelech and Jair. It is interesting to note that both Tola and Puah are names of colors, and that they occur together both in the case of the judge and in that of the sons of Isaachar. They may therefore be looked upon as popular typical or ancestral names of the Issachar tribe, although current critical theories seek an explanation in a confusion of texts.