Judges 8:29-32

8:29 Then Jerub-Baal son of Joash went home and settled down. ¹  8:30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives. ²  8:31 His concubine, ³  who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. ⁴  8:32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very ⁵  old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

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¹ tn Heb “went and lived in his house.”

² 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.

³ 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).

⁴ sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”

⁵ tn Heb “good.”