Judges 8:29-32

Gideon’s family 8:29-32

These verses wrap up the story of Gideon and introduce the story of Abimelech that follows (ch. 9).

Gideon enjoyed the fruits of his heroism for the rest of his life. He was wealthy enough to afford many wives who bore him 70 sons. In this respect Gideon lived like many ancient Near Eastern kings who normally married many wives and fathered many offspring. He followed pagan cultural customs and violated God’s will (Genesis 2:24). He not only accumulated much gold as a king (Judges 8:26), but he also collected many wives as a king (cf. Deuteronomy 17:17).

He also kept a concubine in Shechem, which the Canaanites controlled at this time (cf. Judges 9:2; Judges 9:28). His concubine appears from references in chapter 9 to have been a Canaanite. The Israelites were to eradicate the Canaanites, but their leader decided to marry one (cf. Exodus 34:15-16; Deuteronomy 7:3-4). The son this woman bore Gideon was evidently a young man of outstanding promise since Gideon named him Abimelech (lit. My father is king). This name may have been a cognomen (nickname) rather than a proper name given to him at birth (cf. Genesis 20:2; Genesis 26:1; et al.). In giving it Gideon may have hoped that this son might one day become the father of Israel’s first king. Alternatively it is possible that even though Gideon had formally refused the office of king, the people may have referred to him popularly as their king.

"The name of his son Abimelech (’my father is king’) probably does not mean that Gideon regarded himself as monarch. In personal names ’my father’ normally refers to God; so Gideon could have been reemphasizing the assertion of Judges 8:23 ["the LORD shall rule over you"]." [Note: Wolf, p. 434.]

However, the fact that Abimelech regarded himself as the successor to Gideon suggests that he understood the king in view to be Gideon (cf. Judges 9:2). Probably "Abimelech" reflects Gideon’s perception of his own status in Israel. Abimelech perpetuated and extended Gideon’s bad practices rather than his good theology. Gideon had said the right things but done the wrong things.

The sons of concubines usually did not partake of their father’s inheritances in the ancient Near East (cf. Genesis 16; Genesis 21:8-21). People considered them the heirs of, and members of, the family of their mother, but not their father. Abimelech, therefore, was different from Gideon’s other 70 sons.

Gideon eventually died, and his survivors buried him in his ancestral tomb (Judges 8:32).

"In relation to the book as a whole, Gideon receives attention as the focal point because he represents a significant shift in the ’quality’ of the judges that served Israel. A progressive deterioration begins with Othniel and continues through Samson. Othniel was almost an idealized judge, and Samson was a debauched self-centered individual. God used each judge, whether strong or weak, to accomplish His sovereign will and effect deliverance for the theocratic nation. Gideon, on the other hand, stands somewhere between these two extremes and represents the primary turning point from the ’better’ judges to the ’weaker’ ones." [Note: Tanner, pp. 152-53.]