Bible Strands
Judges 8:31
His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records Gideon’s family expansion immediately after noting his seventy sons from many wives and just before recording his death.
The words — פִּילַגְשׁוֹ (pilagsho) translates as “his concubine,” and יָֽלְדָה (yaldah) means “she bore,” marking the birth of a son from a secondary wife.
The thread — This pattern of concubines bearing sons appears in Genesis 16:15, 20:2, and 22:24, where secondary women produce male heirs named Abimelech or listed in patriarchal genealogies.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Gideon’s household extended beyond his primary wives, establishing Abimelech’s lineage before his later narrative role.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
Cross-references
- Genesis 16:15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
- Genesis 20:2 Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
- Genesis 22:24 Moreover, Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
- Judges 9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,
- Judges 9:18 but you have risen up against my father’s house this day and killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your brother—