Judges 8:31

31 And he had a concubine who lived in Shechem. She also had a son by him. Gideon named that son Abimelech.

Judges 8:31 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 8:31

And his concubine that was in Shechem
Which was not an harlot, but a secondary or half wife; such were generally taken from handmaids, and of the meaner sort, and were not in such esteem as proper wives, had not the management of household affairs, only a share in the bed, and their children did not inherit. This concubine of Gideon's seems not to have been taken into his house at all, but lived at Shechem, perhaps in her father's house, and here Gideon met with her when he went to Shechem as a judge to try causes; her name, according to Josephus F12, was Druma:

she also bare him a son;
as his other wives did; perhaps all the children he had were sons, and this was one over and above the seventy, and not to be reckoned into that number:

whose name he called Abimelech:
which signifies, "my father a king"; which he gave him either in memory of the offer made him to be king of Israel, or through foresight of what this son of his would be; or he might be moved to it by the mother from pride and vanity, and which name might afterwards inspire the young man to be made a king, as he was; and the account given of his name is because of the narrative of him in the following chapter.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 1.

Judges 8:31 In-Context

29 Jerub-Baal, the son of Joash, went back home to live. Jerub-Baal was another name for Gideon.
30 He had 70 sons of his own. That's because he had a lot of wives.
31 And he had a concubine who lived in Shechem. She also had a son by him. Gideon named that son Abimelech.
32 Gideon, the son of Joash, died when he was very old. His body was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah. Ophrah was in the territory that belonged to the family line of Abiezer.
33 As soon as Gideon had died, the people of Israel joined themselves to the gods that were named after Baal. Israel wasn't faithful to the Lord. They worshiped Baal-Berith as their god.
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