Judges 6:32

32 They nicknamed Gideon that day Jerub-Baal because after he had torn down the Baal altar, he had said, "Let Baal fight his own battles."

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 The men of the town demanded of Joash: "Bring out your son! He must die! Why, he tore down the Baal altar and chopped down the Asherah tree!"

31 But Joash stood up to the crowd pressing in on him, "Are you going to fight Baal's battles for him? Are you going to save him? Anyone who takes Baal's side will be dead by morning. If Baal is a god in fact, let him fight his own battles and defend his own altar."

32 They nicknamed Gideon that day Jerub-Baal because after he had torn down the Baal altar, he had said, "Let Baal fight his own battles."

33 All the Midianites and Amalekites (the easterners) got together, crossed the river, and made camp in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 God's Spirit came over Gideon. He blew his ram's horn trumpet and the Abiezrites came out, ready to follow him.