Judges 6:25

Gideon Destroys the Altar

6:25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. ¹  Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.

Judges 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ²  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ³  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ⁴  will die by morning! ⁵  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ⁶  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ⁷ 

Judges 9:24

9:24 He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ⁸  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ⁹ 

Judges 9:28

9:28 Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal, and is not Zebul the deputy he appointed? ¹⁰  Serve the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem! But why should we serve Abimelech? ¹¹ 

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¹ tn Or “Take a bull from your father’s herd, the second one, the one seven years old.” Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.

² tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

³ tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

⁴ tn Heb “fights for him.”

⁵ sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.

⁶ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

⁷ tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).

⁸ tn Heb “their brother.”

⁹ tn Heb “so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come, and their blood might be placed on Abimelech, their brother, who murdered them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to murder his brothers.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and Zebul his appointee.”

¹¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abimelech) has been specified in the translation for clarity.