Judges 6:32

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal,.... That is, Joash called his son Gideon by that name; who, some think, is the same with Jerombalus, the priest of the god Jevo, or Jehovah; from whom

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

He called him, i.e. Joash called Gideon so, , in remembrance of this noble exploit, and to put a brand upon Baal.

Judges 6:32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.Ver. 32. He called him Jerubbaal,] i.e., A man against whom Baal is to strive and contend: a title of honour; as were those of Iconomachus and Iconoelastes, image breakers, though given by way of disgrace to some of the Greek emperors.

(32) He called him.—Rather, people called him, he got the name of. The phrase is impersonal. (Vocatus est, Vulg.; hiess man ihn, Luther.) Jerubbaal.—The name meant, “Let Baal strive;” but might also mean, “let it be striven with Baal,” or “Baal’s antagonist,” and this gave the name a more ready currency. It is possible that the name may have been yet more allusive, since from the Palmyrene inscriptions it appears that there was a deity named Jaribolos (Mover’s Phönizier, 1:434). If in 2 Samuel 11:21 we find the name Jerubbesheth, this is only due to the fondness of the Jews for avoiding the names of idols, and changing them into terms of insult. It was thus that they literally interpreted the law of Exo 23:13 (comp. Joshua 23:7). It was a part of that contumelia numinum with which the ancients charged them (Plin. xiii. 9). I have adduced other instances in Language and Languages, p. 232. (Longmans.) Bosheth means “shame,” i.e., “that shameful thing,” and was a term of scorn for Baal (Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 11:13). We have two other instances of this change in the case of the sons of Saul. Whether from a faithless syncretism, or a tendency to downright apostasy, he called one of his sons Esh-baal, i.e., “man of Baal,” and another Merib-baal (1 Chronicles 8:33-34); but the Jews angrily and contemptuously changed these names into Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 2:10; 2 Samuel 4:4). Ewald, however, and others have conjectured that both Baal and Bosheth may, at one time, have had more harmless associations (see especially 2 Samuel 5:20), and it appears that there was a Baal among the ancestors of Saul (1 Chronicles 8:30). The LXX. write the name Hierobalos; and Eusebius (Praep. Evang. i. 9), quoting from Philo Byblius, tells us that a Gentile historian named Sanchoniatho, of Berytus, whom he praises for his accuracy in Jewish history and geography, had received assistance “from Hierombalos, the priest of the god Iao.” Some have supposed that this is an allusion to Gideon, under the name Jerubbaal.

Verse 32. He called him Jerubbaal] That is, Let Baal contend; changed, 2 Samuel 11:21, into Jerubbesheth, he shall contend against confusion or shame; thus changing baal, lord, into bosheth, confusion or ignominy. Some think that Jerubbaal was the same with Jerombalus, who, according to Sanchoniatho and Porphyry, was a priest of Jevo. But the history of Sanchoniatho is probably a forgery of Porphyry himself, and worthy of no credit.

32. on that day he called him Jerubbaal] Or with a slight change, he was called; in consequence of the foregoing episode the people give Gideon a new name. This is explained to mean ‘Let Baal contend against him’; but the explanation will not hold good, for (a) if Jerub-baal is connected with the verb rξb ‘contend,’ which is questionable, the meaning must be ‘Baal contends,’ without any further thought of ‘against him’: (b) of course Baal did not contend against Gideon, the point of the story is Baal’s impotence. The explanation given in the text rests, not upon a scientific etymology, but upon an assonance, as often elsewhere in the O.T. (e.g. Genesis 4:1, Exodus 2:10); Jerub-baal suggested the shrewd remark of Joash in Judges 6:31, let Baal contend. Originally, no doubt, the name had quite another significance, and baal, i.e. ‘lord,’ referred to Jehovah. In early days baal could be used without offence in this way; thus we find such names as Ish-baal, Merib-baal, Baal-yada in the families of Saul and David, whose loyalty to Jehovah was above suspicion; one of David’s heroes was even called Baal-jah. But the dangerous associations of the title led the prophets to discountenance this usage (see especially Hosea 2:16), and it was given up; the names just mentioned were altered to Ish-bosheth (‘shame’), Mephi-bosheth, El-yada1[36]. Jerub-baal was allowed to stand, because the general drift of the present narrative (as distinct from the explanation given in this verse) suggested the interpretation ‘Adversary of Baal,’ cf. LXX. cod. A δικαστήριοντοῦΒάαλ; nevertheless in 2 Samuel 11:21 the name is changed to Jerub-besheth. If the name, then, originally had nothing to do with the Canaanite Baal, and therefore was not given to Gideon in consequence of the episode related here, we can only suppose that the story grew out of a fanciful etymology. For linguistic reasons many scholars consider that Jerub-baal is not connected with the verb rξb ‘contend2[37] ,’ and that the proper spelling is Jeru-baal, i.e. ‘Baal (Jehovah) founds,’ like Jeru-el, Jeri-yahu; none of the forms in the LXX have the doubled letter (Ἀρβάαλ, Ἰαρβάλ, Ἰεροβάαλ, etc.). [36] Cf. 1 Chronicles 9:39-40; 1 Chronicles 14:7; 1 Chronicles 12:5 with 2 Samuel 2:8; 2 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 5:16. [37] The imperfect of rξb is not yβrτb (whence jerub) but yβrξb; cf. the pr. name Jeho-yarib 1 Chronicles 24:7.

He called him - i. e. “He was called” Jerubbaal, as being the person against whom it was popularly said that Baal might strive. See margin.

32. He called him Jerubbaal — The Baal-fighter. The subject or the verb called is indefinite — one called him, like the subject of cast down in the preceding verse.