Judges 8:29-31

Contemporary English Version

^27-29Gideon returned to his home in Ophrah and had the gold made into a statue, which the Israelites soon started worshiping. They were unfaithful to God, and even Gideon and his family were trapped into worshiping the statue.^[a]

The Midianites had been defeated so badly that they were no longer strong enough to attack Israel. And so Israel was at peace for the remaining 40 years of Gideon's life.

Gideon Dies

³⁰Gideon had many wives and 70 sons. ³¹He even had a wife^[b] who lived at Shechem.^[c] They had a son, and Gideon named him Abimelech.

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Footnotes

8.27-29 statue … statue: Or “sacred priestly vest … vest.”
8.31 wife: This translates a Hebrew word for a woman who was legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife.
8.31 who lived at Shechem: Sometimes marriages were arranged so that the wife lived with her parents, and the husband visited her from time to time.