Judges 8:31

And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(31) His concubine that was in Shechem.—In Judges 9:18 she is contemptuously called his “maid servant.” The sequel (Judges 9:1-4) seems to show that she belonged to the Canaanite population of Shechem. If so, Gideon’s conduct in making her a concubine was as much against the Mosaic law as that of Solomon, though it may have had the same colour of worldly expediency. But it is probable that the requirements of the Mosaic law were much better known in the reign of Solomon, when the priests had once more become influential, than they were in this anarchical period. This concubine exercised an influence sufficiently important to cause the preservation of her name by tradition—Drumah (Jos. Antt. v. 7, § 1).

Whose name he called Abimelech.—For “called” the margin has set. The phrase is not the ordinary one, and perhaps implies that Abimelech (Father-king—“a king, my father”) was a surname given him by his father on observing his ambitious and boastful character. It seems more probable that the name was given by the Shechemites and his mother, and it may not have been without some influence for evil upon his ultimate career. The name has exactly the same significance as Padishah and Attalik, the title of the Khan of Bokhara (Gesenius). Being a well-understood dynastic title (Genesis 20; Psalms 34 title), it would be all the more significant. He was like a bad reproduction of Gideon, with the courage and energy of his father, but with none of his virtues.

Benson Commentary

Jdg 8:31-32. His concubine that was in Shechem — She dwelt there, and he often went thither, either to execute judgment, or upon other occasions. Abimelech — That is, my father the king; so he called him, probably to gratify his concubine, who desired it either out of pride, or design. Gideon died in a good old age — His long life being crowned with the continuance of honour, tranquillity, and happiness.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:29-35 As soon as Gideon was dead, who kept the people to the worship of the God of Israel, they found themselves under no restraint; then they went after Baalim, and showed no kindness to the family of Gideon. No wonder if those who forget their God, forget their friends. Yet conscious of our own ingratitude to the Lord, and observing that of mankind in general, we should learn to be patient under any unkind returns we meet with for our poor services, and resolve, after the Divine example, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Abimelech's mother was not reckoned among the wives, being, probably, one of the Canaanite population in Shechem Judges 9:28 : neither was Abimelech himself reckoned with the 70 other sons of Jerubbaal (Judges 9:24. Compare Judges 11:1-2).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jud 8:28. Midian Subdued.

28. Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel—This invasion of the Arab hordes into Canaan was as alarming and desolating as the irruption of the Huns into Europe. It was the severest scourge ever inflicted upon Israel; and both it and the deliverance under Gideon lived for centuries in the minds of the people (Ps 83:11).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In Shechem; she dwelt there, and he oft came thither, either to execute judgment, or upon other occasions.

Abimelech, i.e. my father the king; so he called him, probably to gratify his concubine, who desired it either out of pride or design.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 (l), 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.

(l) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

31. his concubine that was in Shechem] A connexion of this kind is illustrated by early Arabian custom: the woman, or ‘female friend’ (ṣadâḳa), did not leave her home, the union was of a temporary character (hence the term, mot‘a marriage) and required no consent from parents or guardians, the children remained with their mother and belonged to her tribe; cf. Jdg 9:1; Jdg 9:14. Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriage in early Arabia, p. 69 ff. The narrative seems to imply that the woman was a Canaanite.

and he called his name Abimelech] lit. set, an idiom found only in late writings 2 Kings 17:34, Nehemiah 9:7, Daniel 1:7. Abimelech does not mean ‘my father (Gideon) is king,’ but probably ‘Melech (i.e. the divine king) is father.’ See Gray, Hebr. Pr. Names, pp. 75–86.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 31. - Whose name he called. This is badly translated; it should he, he gave him the name of Abimelech - literally, he set his name Abimelech. There are two phrases in Hebrew. The one, he called his name Seth, Noah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, Jacob, etc., as the case may be. And this is the phrase always, though not exclusively (see, e.g., Genesis 35:10; Judges 6:32), used of the name given to a child at its birth or circumcision. The other is, he gave or set him the name, or, he gave or set his name so-and-so, and this phrase is only used of additional names, or surnames given later in life. The examples are Judges 13:31; 2 Kings 17:34; Nehemiah 9:7; Daniel 2:7; Daniel 5:12. The inference is that the name of Abimelech, which means father of a king, and was the name of the royal family of Gerar, was given to Abimelech as a significant surname, and was perhaps one of the causes which induced him to seize the kingdom. A third phrase is found in 2 Kings 23:34; 2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chronicles 36:4: he turned his name to Jehoiakim; changed his name to Zedekiah. The Hebrew is the same in all these passages. Judges 8:31

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Before the account of his death, a few other notices respecting his family are introduced for the purpose of preparing the way for the following history of the doings of his sons, in which the sin of Gideon came to a head, and the judgment burst upon his house. "And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his house." Both the word ויּלך, which simply serves to bring out the fact more vividly (see the remarks on Exodus 2:1), and also the choice of the name Jerubbaal, merely serve to give greater prominence to the change, from the heat of the war against the Midianites to the quiet retirement of domestic life. Instead of accepting the crown that was offered him and remaining at the head of the nation, the celebrated Baal-fighter retired into private life again. In addition to the seventy sons of his many wives, there was a son born to him by a concubine, who lived at Shechem and is called his maid-servant in Judges 9:18, and to this son he gave the name of Abimelech, i.e., king's father. את־שׁמו ויּשׂם is not the same as את־שׁמו קרא, to give a person a name, but signifies to add a name, or give a surname (see Nehemiah 9:7, and Daniel 5:12 in the Chaldee). It follows from this, that Abimelech received this name from Gideon as a cognomen answering to his character, and therefore not at the time of his birth, but when he grew up and manifested such qualities as led to the expectation that he would be a king's father.