Judges 8:22

CONCLUSION OF GIDEON’S HISTORY, Judges 8:22-35.

22. Rule thou over us Here we meet with the earliest indication of a general desire in Israel to have a king. The expression rule thou, not reign thou, might mean only the people’s desire to have Gideon execute the office of judge among them; but the additional words, thy son, and thy son’s son, clearly involve the idea of a hereditary monarchy. But, as Gideon rejected their proposal, there is no occasion to discuss what all the people may have meant by their request. This much is clear, that in that day of victory and deliverance Gideon’s popularity was unbounded, and the enthusiasm and gratitude of the people towards him were shown by this proposal to settle the government of the nation on him and his family.