Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Judges 8:1-35
Judges 8:3 Sometimes men of great strength of will and purpose possess also in a high degree the gift of tact.... In nearly all administrative posts, in all the many fields of labour where the task of man is to govern, manage, or influence others, to adjust or harmonize antagonism of race or interests or prejudices, to carry through difficult business without friction and by skilful cooperation, this combination of gifts is supremely valuable. W. E. H. Lecky. Judges 8:4 In his Life of... read more
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 8:31
(31) His concubine that was in Shechem.—In Judges 9:18 she is contemptuously called his “maid servant.” The sequel (Judges 9:1-4) seems to show that she belonged to the Canaanite population of Shechem. If so, Gideon’s conduct in making her a concubine was as much against the Mosaic law as that of Solomon, though it may have had the same colour of worldly expediency. But it is probable that the requirements of the Mosaic law were much better known in the reign of Solomon, when the priests had... read more