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Judges 8:30

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Judges 8:30 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives.
Judges 8:30 — American Standard Version

Context — Judges 8

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
27And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
28So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
29And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
30And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives.
31And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.
32And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.
← Judges 8:29Judges 8:31 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Gideon had seventy sons of his body begotten, etc.] Not after his victories, for it is plain he had children before; mention is made of Jether, his firstborn, as a youth able to draw a sword, and slay with it, (<070820>Judges 8:20) but this was the number of all his sons, both before and after, and a large number it was; and the phrase “of his body begotten”, or “that went out of his thigh” is used to show that they were his own sons, begotten in wedlock, and not sons that he had taken into his family by adoption, or that he was father-in-law to, having married a woman or women that had sons by a former husband; but these were all his own: for he had many wives; which, though not…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“threescore: Jdg 9:2, Jdg 9:5, Jdg 10:4, Jdg 12:9, Jdg 12:14; Gen 46:26; Exo 1:5; Kg2 10:1 of his body begotten: Heb. going out of his thigh many wives: Gen 2:24, Gen 7:7; Deu 17:17; Sa2 3:2-5, Sa2 5:13-16; Kg1 11:3; Mal 2:15; Mat 19:5-8; Eph 5:31-33 Judges 8:31”
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