Shofetim 8:31

31 And his pilegesh (concubine) that was in Shechem, she also bore him a ben, whose shem he called Avimelech.

Shofetim 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.

Shofetim 8:31 In-Context

29 And Yerubaal ben Yoash went and dwelt in his own bais.
30 And Gid’on had threescore and ten banim of his own; for he had many nashim.
31 And his pilegesh (concubine) that was in Shechem, she also bore him a ben, whose shem he called Avimelech.
32 And Gid’on ben Yoash died in a good old age, and was buried in the kever of Yoash his av, in Ophrah of the Aviezri.
33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gid’on was dead, that the Bnei Yisroel turned again, and went a-whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-brit their elohim.
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