Judges 8:28-32
New English Translation
Gideon’s Story Ends
28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken.[a] The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time.[b] 29 Then Jerub Baal son of Joash went home and settled down.[c] 30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives.[d] 31 His concubine,[e] who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech.[f] 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very[g] old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 8:28 tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”
- Judges 8:28 tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”
- Judges 8:29 tn Heb “went and lived in his house.”
- Judges 8:30 tn Heb “Gideon had seventy sons who went out from his thigh, for he had many wives.” The Hebrew word יָרֵךְ (yarekh, “thigh”) is a euphemism here for the penis.
- Judges 8:31 sn A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).
- Judges 8:31 sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”
- Judges 8:32 tn Heb “good.”
Judges 8:28-32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
28 So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they lifted up their heads no more. So the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.(A)
Death of Gideon
29 Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live in his own house.(B) 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.(C) 31 His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.(D) 32 Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
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