Judges 8:31

31 And his concubine was in Sychem, and she also bore him a son, and gave him the name Abimelech.

Judges 8:31 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 8:31

And his concubine that was in Shechem
Which was not an harlot, but a secondary or half wife; such were generally taken from handmaids, and of the meaner sort, and were not in such esteem as proper wives, had not the management of household affairs, only a share in the bed, and their children did not inherit. This concubine of Gideon's seems not to have been taken into his house at all, but lived at Shechem, perhaps in her father's house, and here Gideon met with her when he went to Shechem as a judge to try causes; her name, according to Josephus ^F12, was Druma:

she also bare him a son;
as his other wives did; perhaps all the children he had were sons, and this was one over and above the seventy, and not to be reckoned into that number:

whose name he called Abimelech:
which signifies, "my father a king"; which he gave him either in memory of the offer made him to be king of Israel, or through foresight of what this son of his would be; or he might be moved to it by the mother from pride and vanity, and which name might afterwards inspire the young man to be made a king, as he was; and the account given of his name is because of the narrative of him in the following chapter.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 1.

Judges 8:31 In-Context

29 And Jerobaal the son of Joas went and sat in his house.

30 And Gedeon had seventy sons begotten of his body, for he had many wives.

31 And his concubine was in Sychem, and she also bore him a son, and gave him the name Abimelech.

32 And Gedeon son of Joas died in his city, and he was buried in the sepulchre of Joas his father in Ephratha of Abi-Esdri.

33 And it came to pass when Gedeon was dead, that the children of Israel turned, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made for themselves a covenant with Baal that he should be their god.