Text -- Judges 8:28-32 (NET)

Gideon’s Story Ends

8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. 8:29 Then Jerub-Baal son of Joash went home and settled down. 8:30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives. 8:31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 8:32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jdg 8:28

¹ tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”

² tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”

NET Notes: Jdg 8:29

¹ tn Heb “went and lived in his house.”

NET Notes: Jdg 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.

NET Notes: Jdg 8:31

¹ 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).

² sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”

NET Notes: Jdg 8:32

¹ tn Heb “good.”