Judges 8:30
Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.
Bible in Basic English
In The King James Version
And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
In Context
29And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went back to his house and was living there.
31And the servant-wife he had in Shechem had a son by him, to whom he gave the name Abimelech.
Cross References
Genesis 2:24For 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.
Genesis 46:26All 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.
Deuteronomy 17:17And 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.
Judges 9:2Say 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.
Judges 10:4And 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.
Judges 12:14He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who went on seventy young asses; and he was judge of Israel for eight years.
Matthew Henry on Judges 8:30-35
Israel's Return to Idolatry. ( b. c. 1249.) 29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 32 And 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. 33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel… Read the whole commentary →