Page 11 - March 2026 - Truth & Tidings

n our previous article, we saw that woman as Gideon’s concubine cannot but
Gideon failed in what he allowed remind us of the other concubine in the
Iinto his home. As we pick up his story book whose gruesome fate is described in
here, we learn that he also failed in whom the dark and dreadful chapter 19 as an in-
he allowed in: “And Jerubbaal the son of dex of the depth of Israel’s departure. The
Joash went and dwelt in his own house. Shechemite origins of this woman must
And Gideon had threescore and ten sons be significant in a book that is constantly
of his body begotten: for he had many alert to the dangers of intermarriage with
wives. And his concubine that was in pagan peoples, and Abimelech’s connec-
Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose tion with Shechem will play an important
name he called Abimelech” (Jdg 8:29-31). part in his story. Clearly, something is
1
One does not need to be a particularly badly amiss in Gideon’s “own house.”
skilled student of Scripture to know that This is underscored by the use of the
“many wives” are bad news. And, just in name “Jerubbaal the son of Joash” and by
case we did miss the point, the presence in the fact that in the amassing of multiple
Gideon’s harem of a (probably Canaanite) wives, which is behaviour more typically
concubine from Shechem sounds fur- associated with kings than with private
ther alarm bells. The description of this citizens, Gideon has established a harem. 3
2
Warning bells must always sound when
someone disregards the divine pattern for
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the
KJV. marriage: one man and one woman for
2 Traditionally, the Shechemites have been life. While the Old Testament records not
presumed to be Canaanite. See, however, Jack a few instances of polygamy, God never
M. Sasson, Judges 1–12: A New Translation with endorses it, and it always has negative
Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, consequences. This is certainly the case
CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 390. Michelle
Knight, The Prophet’s Anthem: The Song of here, for Gideon’s disregard of the divine
Deborah and Barak in the Narrative of Judges
(Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2024), 3 It is significant that Deuteronomy 17:17
81-83 argues that “a significant number of the prohibits a king from “multiply[ing] wives to
Shechemite people were Israelites.” himself, that his heart turn not away.”
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