30 Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.
Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and put his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, to death on the same stone; however, Jotham, the youngest, kept himself safe by going away to a secret place.
Say now in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem, Is it better for you to be ruled by all the seventy sons of Jerubbaal or by one man only? And keep in mind that I am your bone and your flesh.
While David was in Hebron he became the father of sons: the oldest was Amnon, son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; And the second, Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom, son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; And the fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah, the son of Abital; And the sixth, Ithream, whose mother was David's wife Eglah. These were the sons of David, whose birth took place in Hebron.
For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a great secret: but my words are about Christ and the church. But do you, everyone, have love for his wife, even as for himself; and let the wife see that she has respect for her husband.
For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and the two will become one flesh? So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Then let not that which has been joined by God be parted by man. They say to him, Why then did Moses give orders that a husband might give her a statement in writing and be free from her? He says to them, Moses, because of your hard hearts, let you put away your wives: but it has not been so from the first.
Now there were in Samaria seventy of Ahab's sons. And Jehu sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of the town, and to the responsible men, and to those who had the care of the sons of Ahab, saying,
He had seven hundred wives, daughters of kings, and three hundred other wives; and through his wives his heart was turned away.
And David took more women and wives in Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron: and he had more sons and daughters. These are the names of those whose birth took place in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon And Ibhar and Elishua and Nepheg and Japhia And Elishama and Eliada and Eliphelet.
For this cause will a man go away from his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they will be one flesh.
He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who went on seventy young asses; and he was judge of Israel for eight years.
And he had thirty sons, who went on thirty young asses; and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are named Havvoth-Jair to this day.
And he is not to have a great number of wives, for fear that his heart may be turned away; or great wealth of silver and gold.
All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt, the offspring of his body, were sixty-six, without taking into account the wives of Jacob's sons.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Judges 8
Commentary on Judges 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
This chapter gives us a further account of Gideon's victory over the Midianites, with the residue of the story of his life and government.
Jdg 8:1-3
No sooner were the Midianites, the common enemy, subdued, than, through the violence of some hot spirits, the children of Israel were ready to quarrel among themselves; an unhappy spark was struck, which, if Gideon had not with a great deal of wisdom and grace extinguished immediately, might have broken out into a flame of fatal consequence. The Ephraimites, when they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon as general, instead of congratulating him upon his successes and addressing him with thanks for his great services, as they ought to have done, picked a quarrel with him and grew very hot upon it.
Now what was the issue of this controversy? The Ephraimites had chidden with him sharply (v. 1), forgetting the respect due to their general and one whom God had honoured, and giving vent to their passion in a very indecent liberty of speech, a certain sign of a weak and indefensible cause. Reason runs low when the chiding flies high. But Gideon's soft answer turned away their wrath, Prov. 15:1. Their anger was abated towards him, v. 3. It is intimated that they retained some resentment, but he prudently overlooked it and let it cool by degrees. Very great and good men must expect to have their patience tried by the unkindnesses and follies even of those they serve and must not think it strange.
Jdg 8:4-17
In these verses we have,
Jdg 8:18-21
Judgment began at the house of God, in the just correction of the men of Succoth and Penuel, who were Israelites, but it did not end there. The kings of Midian, when they had served to demonstrate Gideon's victories, and grace his triumphs, must now be reckoned with.
Jdg 8:22-28
Here is,
Jdg 8:29-35
We have here the conclusion of the story of Gideon.