Judges 8:30-31

8:30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives. ¹  8:31 His concubine, ²  who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. ³ 

[8:30]  ¹ tn Heb “Gideon had seventy sons who went out from his thigh, for he had many wives.” The Hebrew word יָרֵךְ (yarekh, “thigh”) is a euphemism here for the penis.

[8:31]  ² sn A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).

[8:31]  ³ sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”