Judges Chapter 8 verse 31 Holy Bible
And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.
read chapter 8 in ASV
And the servant-wife he had in Shechem had a son by him, to whom he gave the name Abimelech.
read chapter 8 in BBE
And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abim'elech.
read chapter 8 in DARBY
And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
read chapter 8 in KJV
And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
read chapter 8 in WBT
His concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
read chapter 8 in WEB
and his concubine, who `is' in Shechem, hath born to him -- even she -- a son, and he appointeth his name Abimelech.
read chapter 8 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 31. - Whose name he called. This is badly translated; it should he, he gave him the name of Abimelech - literally, he set his name Abimelech. There are two phrases in Hebrew. The one, he called his name Seth, Noah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, Jacob, etc., as the case may be. And this is the phrase always, though not exclusively (see, e.g., Genesis 35:10; Judges 6:32), used of the name given to a child at its birth or circumcision. The other is, he gave or set him the name, or, he gave or set his name so-and-so, and this phrase is only used of additional names, or surnames given later in life. The examples are Judges 13:31; 2 Kings 17:34; Nehemiah 9:7; Daniel 2:7; Daniel 5:12. The inference is that the name of Abimelech, which means father of a king, and was the name of the royal family of Gerar, was given to Abimelech as a significant surname, and was perhaps one of the causes which induced him to seize the kingdom. A third phrase is found in 2 Kings 23:34; 2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chronicles 36:4: he turned his name to Jehoiakim; changed his name to Zedekiah. The Hebrew is the same in all these passages.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(31) His concubine that was in Shechem.--In Judges 9:18 she is contemptuously called his "maid servant." The sequel (Judges 9:1-4) seems to show that she belonged to the Canaanite population of Shechem. If so, Gideon's conduct in making her a concubine was as much against the Mosaic law as that of Solomon, though it may have had the same colour of worldly expediency. But it is probable that the requirements of the Mosaic law were much better known in the reign of Solomon, when the priests had once more become influential, than they were in this anarchical period. This concubine exercised an influence sufficiently important to cause the preservation of her name by tradition--Drumah (Jos. Antt. v. 7, ? 1).Whose name he called Abimelech.--For "called" the margin has set. The phrase is not the ordinary one, and perhaps implies that Abimelech (Father-king--"a king, my father") was a surname given him by his father on observing his ambitious and boastful character. It seems more probable that the name was given by the Shechemites and his mother, and it may not have been without some influence for evil upon his ultimate career. The name has exactly the same significance as Padishah and Attalik, the title of the Khan of Bokhara (Gesenius). Being a well-understood dynastic title (Genesis 20; Psalms 34 title), it would be all the more significant. He was like a bad reproduction of Gideon, with the courage and energy of his father, but with none of his virtues.
