Judges 6:32

32 So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, ^[a] that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baal’s altar.

Judges 6:32 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:32

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal
That is, Joash called his son Gideon by that name; who, some think, is the same with Jerombalus, the priest of the god Jevo, or Jehovah; from whom Sanchoniatho, an ancient Phoenician writer, as Philo Byblius says ^F23, received the principal things in his history respecting the Jews:

saying, let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his
altar;
giving this as the reason of the name of Jerubbaal he called him by, which signifies, "let Baal plead"; let Baal plead his own cause, and avenge himself on Gideon for what he has done to him, and put him to death if he can.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Apud Euseb. Evangel Praepar. l. 1. p. 31.

Judges 6:32 In-Context

30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has torn down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Are you contending for Baal? Are you trying to save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal is a god, let him contend for himself with the one who has torn down his altar.”

32 So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baal’s altar.

33 Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jerubbaal probably means let Baal contend.