In our previous article, we saw that Gideon failed in what he allowed into his home. As we pick up his story here, we learn that he also failed in whom he allowed in: “And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech” (Jdg 8:29-31).1 One does not need to be a particularly skilled student of Scripture to know that “many wives” are bad news. And, just in case we did miss the point, the presence in Gideon’s harem of a (probably Canaanite) concubine from Shechem sounds further alarm bells.2 The description of this woman as Gideon’s concubine cannot but remind us of the other concubine in the book whose gruesome fate is described in the dark and dreadful chapter 19 as an index of the depth of Israel’s departure. The Shechemite origins of this woman must be significant in a book that is constantly alert to the dangers of intermarriage with pagan peoples, and Abimelech’s connection with Shechem will play an important part in his story. Clearly, something is badly amiss in Gideon’s “own house.” This is underscored by the use of the name “Jerubbaal the son of Joash” and by the fact that in the amassing of multiple wives, which is behaviour more typically associated with kings than with private citizens, Gideon has established a harem.3
Warning bells must always sound when someone disregards the divine pattern for marriage: one man and one woman for life. While the Old Testament records not a few instances of polygamy, God never endorses it, and it always has negative consequences. This is certainly the case here, for Gideon’s disregard of the divine template for marriage played a crucial part in Abimelech’s rule and in the slaughter of almost all his sons. Gideon’s failure in marriage led to failure in his children. The big failure was, of course, Abimelech, but before we consider him we should note another suggestive example of Gideon’s parenting. This occurred after the capture of Zebah and Zalmunna: “And [Gideon] said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth” (8:20). While it can be argued that Gideon is showing a concern for the instruction of the next generation in the realities of warfare, it is difficult not to feel sorry for Jether, and to feel that Gideon’s actions here are far from wise. While we should all have a burden to encourage the next generation in the things of God, we need wisdom not to impose our own exercise upon our children or to pressure them in spiritual things beyond their maturity or readiness. Fleeting though this incident is, it does make us consider what role Gideon’s parenting played in the development of Abimelech’s tyrannical ambitions – a question that is compounded when we turn our thoughts to the question of the naming of Abimelech.
In action as well as in character, the book of Judges has more than its fair share of ambiguity. Events are recorded for us, but only exceptionally does the narrator provide us with any assistance in understanding their significance. This can be challenging for us as readers – our preference is often to have the moral of each story neatly explained – but it is an essential feature of the book of Judges. The narrator is not interested in providing neat moral parables; rather, the purpose of the book is to force us to make our own evaluations, and to learn, in the process, something about our own moral values and our own motivations.
Among the many ambiguous events recorded in the book, few are so enduringly enigmatic as Gideon’s naming of his son: “And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech” (8:31). Given the role that Abimelech will play in the following chapters, his introduction here is clearly a very significant moment in the book. The language used seems intended to highlight just how important this moment is. The expression “whose name he called Abimelech” could be more literally rendered “whose name he set as Abimelech.” Although the verb “set” is a common one, occurring almost 600 times in the Old Testament, the formulation used here occurs on only three occasions. Besides its use here, it can be found in Nehemiah 9:7 (“Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham”) and Daniel 1:7 (“Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar”). Notably, these references both deal with individuals being given new names with a special significance. It is probably going beyond the evidence to conclude definitively that what is described in Judges 8:31 is a renaming of Abimelech.4 However, the language used does emphasise the deliberation involved in the choice of Abimelech’s name. We would assume that parents would carefully choose their children’s names; it is striking that the narrator is so careful to stress the thoughtfulness with which Gideon set his son’s name as Abimelech.
If the text emphasises the deliberation involved in the choice of Abimelech’s name, it also highlights our difficulty in understanding exactly what that name means, and what that meaning signifies. There are a number of possibilities for the meaning. Keil and Delitzsch are unusual in suggesting that it means “king’s father.” More widely canvassed options include “Melek is my father,” with reference to Malik, a deity worshiped in various parts of the ancient world, or “The king is my father.”5 The difficulty in imagining Gideon giving his son such an overtly pagan name perhaps makes the latter interpretation more likely, but it comes with its own ambiguity: does “father” here refer to Jehovah or to Gideon? This ambiguity is impossible to resolve, and even if we give Gideon the full benefit of the doubt, it is striking that this name – so carefully selected – should allow two such different interpretations.
Whether or not Gideon intended the name to hint at a dynastic claim, Abimelech certainly seems to have understood it in that way. In the following chapters, all the ambition that Gideon had only imperfectly suppressed manifests itself in its full, ruthless awfulness as one by one, with a ceremonial cruelty, Abimelech “slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone” (9:5). In his rejection of kingship, Gideon’s words were irreproachable. “I will not rule over you,” he had said, “neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you” (8:23). But his actions in claiming the enormous spoil from the Ishmaelites, in amassing wives and concubines, and in the naming of his son were not altogether consistent with those words. Abimelech, as children do, had noticed this inconsistency, and inherited and exaggerated a sense of monarchical entitlement.
It is a story we have all seen play out again and again. Men and women who have lived their lives for God and who have had spiritual ambitions for themselves too often have worldly ambitions for their children. A gap opens up between word and deed; our actions tell our children where our priorities really lie. And we cannot be surprised if it is the lessons of our deeds that they put into practice, and not that of our words.
The failures in Gideon’s home life had tragic consequences for his family. His failure also had alarming consequences for the nation, which had to endure three years of incompetent and ultimately tyrannical leadership.
Gideon was a good judge. He brought the nation deliverance from bondage and famine and gave her forty years of rest. But his failure in his family meant that his line was all but wiped out; of his many sons, only Jotham survived. And that meant that he left no legacy of lasting peace.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
2 Traditionally, the Shechemites have been presumed to be Canaanite. See, however, Jack M. Sasson, Judges 1–12: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 390. Michelle Knight, The Prophet’s Anthem: The Song of Deborah and Barak in the Narrative of Judges (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2024), 81-83 argues that “a significant number of the Shechemite people were Israelites.”
3 It is significant that Deuteronomy 17:17 prohibits a king from “multiply[ing] wives to himself, that his heart turn not away.”
4 Though cf. C.F. Keil, F. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. IV, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1880), 360: “signifies to add a name, or give a surname. … 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.”
5 Daniel I. Block, Judges, Ruth, New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Group, 1999), 304 points out that the three other Abimelechs in the OT (Gen 20, 26, Psa 34 superscription) were all Philistines, a circumstance that perhaps makes this unpalatable option more plausible. He also raises the possibility that Abimelech “functioned as a dynastic title for Philistine kings.” If this is so, Gideon’s desire to found a dynasty has become very overt.
