Judges 8:29

GIDEON'S LONG LIFE; HIS DEATH AND BURIAL (Judges 8:29-32)

"And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives. And his concubine that was in Shechem, she bare him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezerites."

The importance of Joash the father of Gideon is evident in a number of things: (1) "His proprietary rights in the cultic establishment at Ophrah; (2) his definitive word in the altercation; (3) the mention of his sepulchre (the only one mentioned in Judges); and (4) his undoubted wealth."[31] All of these things are a testimony of the wealth, power, and prestige of Gideon's family, despite Gideon's protest before the Angel of Jehovah in Judges 6:15.

Gideon certainly required a lot of wealth in order to take care of such an immense family, "many wives and 70 sons," to say nothing of his relation to that concubine in Shechem who became the mother of Abimelech. The next chapter reveals that there was a special reason for mentioning Abimelech and his mother, suggesting that there were also many concubines.

The large number of Gideon's sons is in keeping with the description of other judges: Jair (30 sons, Judges 10:4), Ibzan, (30 sons and 30 daughters. Judges 12:9), and Abdon (40 sons, Judges 12:14). "Polygamy and concubinage were institutions of the day, and their attendant evils are clearly seen in the family of Gideon (Judges 9)."[32]

The fact that Abimelech's mother was Gideon's concubine living in Shechem calls attention to a type of concubinage in which the concubine continued to live with her parents, to have custody of the children, and to permit her husband to visit her.

Hervey has this interesting summary of Gideon's life:

"He did not return to poverty and obscurity as did the early Roman Consuls. He was judge over Israel for forty years, with an immense household and a harem, living like a great prince in his paternal city, with himself and his ephod the center around which the affairs of church and state gathered. He directed the affairs of his country, both and ecclesiastical, so that Israel had peace for forty years. He suppressed Baal-worship, and having lived in peace and prosperity for a long life, he died in peace and was laid to rest in the sepulchre of his father."[33]

However, there were blemishes in the life of Gideon. The idolatry which he encouraged by setting up his ephod would return as soon as he died, overwhelming Israel in another episode of oppression and sorrow. His own sons would, all except one, be ruthlessly slain by the son of his concubine. God's severe judgment did indeed fall upon Gideon in the person of his posterity.