Judges 8:30

30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.

Judges 8:30 in Other Translations

30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.

30 He had seventy sons born to him, for he had many wives.

30 Gideon had seventy sons. He fathered them all - he had a lot of wives!

30 Gideon had 70 sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives.

Judges 8:30 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 8:30

And Gideon had seventy sons of his body begotten
Not after his victories, for it is plain he had children before; mention is made of Jether, his firstborn, as a youth able to draw a sword, and slay with it, ( Judges 8:20 ) but this was the number of all his sons, both before and after, and a large number it was; and the phrase "of his body begotten", or "that went out of his thigh" is used to show that they were his own sons, begotten in wedlock, and not sons that he had taken into his family by adoption, or that he was father-in-law to, having married a woman or women that had sons by a former husband; but these were all his own:

for he had many wives;
which, though not agreeable to the original law of marriage, was customary in those times, and even with good men, and was connived at; and this is a reason accounting for his having so many sons.

Judges 8:30 In-Context

28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years.

29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live.

30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.

31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.

32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Cross References

• 1. Jdg 9:2,5,18,24; Judges 12:14; 2 Kings 10:1