Judges 8:33

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 8:29-35

We have here the conclusion of the story of Gideon. 1. He lived privately, Jdg. 8:29. He was not puffed up with his great honours, did not covet a palace or castle to dwell in, but retired to the house he had lived in before his elevation. Thus that brave Roman Who was called from the plough upon a sudden occasion to command the army when the action was over returned to his plough again. 2. His family was multiplied. He had many wives (therein he transgressed the law); by them he had seventy... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 8:33

And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again ,.... from God, and the pure worship of him, to idolatry: and went a whoring after Baalim ; the gods of the Phoenicians and Canaanites, the several Baals of other nations, the lords many which they served; these they committed spiritual whoredom with; that is, idolatry: particularly and made Baalberith their god; which was the idol of the Shechemites, as appears from a temple being built at... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 8:33

A whoring after Baalim - This term has probably a different meaning here from what it has Judges 8:7 ; for it is very likely that in most parts of the pagan worship there were many impure rites, so that going a whoring after Baalim may be taken in a literal sense. Baal-berith - Literally, the lord of the covenant; the same as Jupiter faederis , or Mercury, among the Romans; the deity whose business it was to preside over compacts, leagues, treaties, covenants, etc. Some of the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 8:33

Turned again - Doubtless Gideon himself had no doubt prepared the way for this apostacy by his unauthorized ephod. The Law of Moses, with its strict unity of priesthood and altar, was the divinely-appointed and only effectual preservative from idolatry.Baal-bereth - The god of covenants or sworn treaties, corresponding to the Zeus Orkius of the Greeks. The center of this fresh apostacy was at Shechem. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 8:33

Judges 8:33. As soon as, &c. Whereby we see the temper of this people, who did no longer cleave to God, than they were in a manner constrained to it, by the presence and authority of the judges. Baalim This was the general name including all their idols, one of which here follows: Baal- berith That is, the Lord of the covenant; so called, either from the covenant wherewith the worshippers of this god bound themselves to maintain his worship, or defend one another therein; or... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 8:1-35

Deliverance under Gideon (7:1-8:35)God allowed Gideon only three hundred men to launch the attack against the Midianites, so that Israel might know that victory was not by military power but by God’s power (7:1-8). A Midianite soldier’s dream showed that an unnatural fear had come upon the Midianites. When he dreamt that a poor man’s loaf of barley overthrew a rich man’s tent, he thought that poverty-stricken Israel would overthrow Midian’s army. The Midianites could, in fact, have wiped out... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Judges 8:33

ISRAEL FELL AGAIN INTO APOSTASY (Judges 8:33-35)"And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. And the children of Israel remembered not Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.""Israel ... made... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 8:33

Judges 8:33. Went a whoring after Baalim— As the same expression is made use of in Jdg 8:27 with regard to Gideon's ephod, we may reasonably conclude, that, in the former case, they were guilty of idolatry, by worshipping the true God in an improper manner, and contrary to his immediate commands; as, in the latter, they were guilty of idolatry by worshipping false gods: an observation which confirms the opinion that we have advanced in the note on the former part of the 27th verse, concerning... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 8:33-35

2. Israel’s departure from Yahweh 8:33-35After Gideon’s death, the Israelites again wandered from the Lord (cf. Judges 3:7; Judges 3:12; Judges 4:1; Judges 6:1; Judges 10:6; Judges 13:1). They even made a covenant with Baal in disobedience to God’s Law. "Baal-berith" (Judges 8:33) means "Baal of the covenant." Ironically Shechem, the town where the Israelites had twice renewed their covenant with Yahweh after they entered the land (Joshua 8; Joshua 24), became a site and center of this Baal... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 8:1-35

The Pursuit of the Kings. Gideon’s Subsequent Career and Death1. Cp. Judges 12. Ephraim claimed to be the leading tribe; later the name was often used as a synonym for the northern kingdom. The natural jealousy of the tribe was appeased by Gideon’s ready wit; one might have suspected that, making such claims as these, they would not have left Gideon to take the initiative.2. Gleaning and vintage] note the contrast between these. Abi-ezer] Gideon substitutes this for his own name. 4. Having... read more

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