Gideon's Death and Israel's Return to Idolatry
Judges 8:28-35
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Jud.8.28 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויכנע: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- מדין: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לפני: PREP
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יספו: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,pl
- לשאת: VERB,qal,inf
- ראשם: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- ותשקט: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,f,sg
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ארבעים: NUM,m,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בימי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- גדעון: NOUN,m,sg,proper
Parallels
- Judges 3:11 (verbal): Same formula reporting a period of rest: after Othniel delivered Israel 'the land had rest forty years' — a structural parallel to Gideon's forty years of peace.
- Judges 2:16-19 (thematic): Summarizes the Deuteronomistic cycle (oppression, YHWH raises a deliverer, deliverance, and a time of rest) that Gideon's victory and subsequent peace exemplify.
- Numbers 31:1-12 (thematic): Contextual parallel concerning warfare against Midian — Gideon's subjugation of Midian echoes earlier Israelite campaigns and the theme of directing divine judgment against Midianites.
- Judges 7:22 (verbal): Immediate narrative parallel within the Gideon tradition describing the rout of the Midianites (the men of Israel turning every man against his fellow) that explains how the enemy was subdued and peace established.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Midian was subdued before the men of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads any more; and the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
- And Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they did not lift up their heads again; and the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon.
Jud.8.29 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- וילך: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- ירבעל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יואש: NOUN,m,sg,proper
- וישב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בביתו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Judges 8:22-23 (structural): Immediate context: the people offer Gideon (Jerubbaal) the kingship and he refuses; verse 8:29 follows as the narrative closure showing his return to private life.
- Judges 6:32 (verbal): Earlier reference to Gideon’s alternative name and family identity (Jerubbaal son of Joash); connects the same personal designation used in 8:29.
- 1 Samuel 8:4-9 (thematic): Contrasts Israel’s later insistence on a monarch with Gideon’s refusal of kingship and his choice to 'go home' rather than accept rulership—different responses to royal authority.
- Judges 21:25 (thematic): Summarizes the era: 'In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.' Gideon’s return to his house reflects the decentralized, tribal leadership of the period.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his house.
- And Jerubbaal son of Joash went and dwelt in his house.
Jud.8.30 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ולגדעון: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- היו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- שבעים: NUM,card,m,pl
- בנים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יצאי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ירכו: NOUN,f,sg,poss,3,m
- כי: CONJ
- נשים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- רבות: ADJ,f,pl,abs
- היו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Judges 9:1-6 (structural): Direct narrative continuation: Gideon's many sons (including Abimelech, son of his concubine) lead to the power struggle and violence recounted in Judges 9.
- Genesis 46:27 (thematic): The number seventy recurs as a collective figure for offspring/clans (e.g., the seventy who went down to Egypt), linking Gideon's 'seventy sons' to a broader biblical motif of seventy as a representative family number.
- 1 Kings 11:3 (thematic): Solomon's many wives and concubines (and resultant numerous children) parallel Gideon's polygynous household and the social/dynastic issues that can follow from having many wives and offspring.
- 2 Samuel 5:13-16 (thematic): David's acquisition of many wives and the listing of his sons at Jerusalem echo the motif of prominent leaders with multiple wives and numerous sons, comparable to Gideon's large family.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Gideon had seventy sons, the fruit of his loins; for he had many wives.
- And Gideon had seventy sons who came from his loins, for he had many wives.
Jud.8.31 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ופילגשו: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs,pr3ms
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בשכם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ילדה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- גם: ADV
- היא: PRON,dem,3,f,sg
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וישם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- שמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- אבימלך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Judges 8:30 (verbal): Immediate context: mentions Gideon’s many sons (seventy) and sets up the contrast with the son born to his concubine in Shechem.
- Judges 9:1 (quotation): Directly repeats the key fact of 8:31 — Abimelech is identified as the son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) and the concubine of Shechem, launching the narrative of his rise.
- Judges 9:4–6 (structural): Shows the consequences of Abimelech’s Shechem origin: his mother’s kin in Shechem support him and crown him king, linking back to his birth there in 8:31.
- Genesis 21:9–10 (thematic): Parallel theme of a son born to a secondary wife/concubine (Ishmael/Hagar) who becomes a source of family and communal conflict and eventual estrangement.
Alternative generated candidates
- And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son; and he named him Abimelech.
- And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
Jud.8.32 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- וימת: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- גדעון: NOUN,m,sg,proper
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יואש: NOUN,m,sg,proper
- בשיבה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- טובה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- ויקבר: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בקבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יואש: NOUN,m,sg,proper
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- בעפרה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אבי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- העזרי: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Gen.25.8 (verbal): Uses the same language about a leader’s death — “died in a good old age” — and highlights burial in a familial sepulchre (Abraham buried in Machpelah).
- 1 Chr.29.28 (verbal): Describes a prominent Israelite leader (David) who “died in a good old age, full of days,” echoing the phrasing about Gideon’s peaceful, full life and death.
- Josh.24.29-30 (thematic): Joshua’s death and burial “in the border of his inheritance” parallels Gideon’s burial in his father’s tomb — both emphasize burial in familial/ancestral land after a full life of leadership.
- Gen.49.29-33 (thematic): Jacob’s instructions to be buried with his fathers and the subsequent burial in the family tomb parallel the motif of patriarchal/ancestral interment found in Gideon’s burial in Joash’s sepulchre.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age; and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Jud.8.33 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כאשר: CONJ
- מת: ADJ,m,sg
- גדעון: NOUN,m,sg,proper
- וישובו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויזנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אחרי: PREP
- הבעלים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- וישימו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- בעל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ברית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לאלהים: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Judges 2:10-13 (structural): The opening summary after Joshua's generation: when leaders die the people turn to Baals and foreign gods — establishes the recurring cycle of apostasy that Judges 8:33 repeats.
- Judges 3:7 (verbal): Uses the same language — 'the children of Israel did evil... and served Baalim' — a direct verbal parallel describing Israel's idolatrous relapse.
- Judges 8:27 (verbal): Immediate context: Gideon makes an ephod that becomes an object of worship and leads Israel to 'whore' after it — shows a proximate cause/tension for the later relapse after his death.
- Judges 10:6 (thematic): Another judge-period summary: 'the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim and Ashtoreth' — repeats the pattern of apostasy and foreign-god worship after deliverers.
Alternative generated candidates
- And it came to pass, when Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again and prostituted themselves after the Baals, and made Baal‑berith their god.
- And it came to pass, when Gideon died, that the Israelites again prostituted themselves after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
Jud.8.34 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ולא: CONJ
- זכרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
- המציל: VERB,ptc,pres,act,m,sg,def
- אותם: PRON,3,m,pl,obj
- מיד: PREP
- כל: DET
- איביהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3,pl
- מסביב: ADV,loc
Parallels
- Judges 2:10 (thematic): Describes a later generation that did not know/remember the LORD or his deeds—same theme of Israel's collective forgetfulness after deliverance.
- 1 Samuel 12:9 (verbal): Uses the language of 'forgetting the LORD' with the consequence of being delivered into enemies' hands; closely parallels the moral/causal pattern in Judges 8:34.
- Psalm 78:11 (verbal): Laments that Israel 'forgot' God's works and miracles—echoes the failure to remember God's saving acts mentioned in Judges 8:34.
- Psalm 106:21-22 (thematic): Speaks of Israel forgetting God their Savior who had delivered them—directly parallels the charge that Israel did not remember the LORD who saved them from their enemies.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies round about.
- And the Israelites did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies round about.
Jud.8.35 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ולא: CONJ
- עשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- חסד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עם: PREP
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ירבעל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גדעון: NOUN,m,sg,proper
- ככל: PREP
- הטובה: ADJ,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עם: PREP
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Judges 8:22-24 (structural): Immediate context: Israel offers Gideon kingship and Gideon refuses; the passage situates the later ingratitude toward his house within the same narrative episode.
- Judges 2:16-19 (thematic): Part of the Deuteronomistic cycle—Israel’s pattern of forgetting deliverers and the LORD after a judge dies, which explains recurring failures of loyalty to leaders and their families.
- 1 Samuel 20:14-17 (verbal): Jonathan’s covenant with David uses the language of showing kindness to a man’s household—closely parallels the expectation of ‘chesed’ shown to a leader’s house, here denied to Gideon’s family.
- 2 Samuel 9:1-13 (thematic): David’s deliberate kindness to Mephibosheth and Saul’s house contrasts with Israel’s failure to extend kindness to Gideon’s house, highlighting differing obligations to former leaders and their kin.
- Psalm 78:10-11 (thematic): The psalm laments Israel’s forgetfulness of God’s deeds and mercies—a related motif of ingratitude that frames the community’s failure to honor Gideon’s service.
Alternative generated candidates
- They did notshow kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) according to all the good that he had done to Israel.
- They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, Gideon, according to all the good that he had done for Israel.
Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads any more; the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his house. Now Gideon had seventy sons of his own body, for he had many wives. And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son; and he named him Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
When Gideon died, the people of Israel again prostituted themselves after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
They did not remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies around them.
They did not show steadfast love to the house of Jerubbaal—Gideon—according to all the good that he had done for Israel.