Judges 8:23

And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) The Lord shall rule over you.—Numbers 23:21; Deuteronomy 33:5; 1Samuel 6:12. Gideon refused the splendid temptation of an hereditary crown, though, in strict accordance with Divine guidance, he was willing to be their judge ( Shaphat, as in Judges 10:2-3; Judges 12:7, &c.). Cassel compares the remark of Washington when he accepted the Presidency, because he would “obey the voice of the people.” saying that “no people could be more bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men than the people of the United States” (Marshall’s Life of Washington, 2:146). The day anticipated in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 had not yet come. Up to this point “we feel all the goodness of Gideon. There is a sweetness and nobleness mingled with his courage, something of the past greatness of Joshua, something of the future grace of David.” He reminds us in some respects of Henry Y. of England, and Henry IV. of France.

Benson Commentary

Jdg 8:23. I will not rule over you — As a king. He rejected their offer, because he looked upon God as their king, who appointed what deputy he pleased to govern them; and because he considered this proposal as an effort, or at least as tending to alter that form of government which God had instituted and had given them no authority to change. The Lord shall rule over you — In a special manner, as he hath hitherto done by judges. These God particularly appointed and directed in all the more important concerns of their office, even by Urim and Thummim, and, in a special manner, assisted upon all occasions: whereas kings had only a general dependance on God. That God was their supreme Ruler and King, was the foundation of their whole state. Hence the judgment which was administered among them is called God’s judgment, Deuteronomy 1:17. And Solomon is said to sit upon the throne of the Lord, (1 Chronicles 29:23,) and the kingdom of his posterity is called the kingdom of the Lord, (2 Chronicles 13:8,) because before kings were settled in Israel, the Lord was their king; from whom the government was derived to the house of David by a special act of God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:22-28 Gideon refused the government the people offered him. No good man can be pleased with any honour done to himself, which belongs only to God. Gideon thought to keep up the remembrance of this victory by an ephod, made of the choicest of the spoils. But probably this ephod had, as usual, a teraphim annexed to it, and Gideon intended this for an oracle to be consulted. Many are led into false ways by one false step of a good man. It became a snare to Gideon himself, and it proved the ruin of the family. How soon will ornaments which feed the lust of the eye, and form the pride of life, as well as tend to the indulgences of the flesh, bring shame on those who are fond of them!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The ornaments - See marg. and compare Isaiah 3:18. The custom of adorning the necks of their camels with gold chains and ornaments prevailed among the Arabs so late as the time of Mahomet.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22, 23. the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us … Gideon said unto them, the Lord shall rule over you—Their unbounded admiration and gratitude prompted them, in the enthusiasm of the moment, to raise their deliverer to a throne, and to establish a royal dynasty in his house. But Gideon knew too well, and revered too piously the principles of the theocracy, to entertain the proposal for a moment. Personal and family ambition was cheerfully sacrificed to a sense of duty, and every worldly motive was kept in check by a supreme regard to the divine honor. He would willingly act as judge, but the Lord alone was King of Israel.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I will not rule over you, to wit, as a king, which you desire.

The Lord shall rule over you, in a special manner, as he hath hitherto done, by judges, whom God did particularly appoint and direct, even by Urim and Thummim, and assist upon all occasions; whereas kings had a greater power, and only a general dependence upon God, as other kings had. Compare 1 Samuel 8:6,7.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you,.... Not that he declined the government of them as a judge, to which he was raised of God, but as a king, for which he had no authority and call from God; the choice of a king belonging to him, and not to the people:

neither shall my son rule over you; which Abarbinel thinks he spake as a prophet, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; for after his death neither Jether his eldest son, nor any of the rest of his legitimate sons, ruled over them; for they were all slain by Abimelech, the son of his concubine, who was made king:

the Lord shall rule over you; as he did; their government was a theocracy, which they would have changed, but Gideon would not agree to it.

Geneva Study Bible

And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. I will not rule over you] But ch. 9 implies that Gideon did exercise some kind of supremacy, at any rate in his own district, and his sons claimed to inherit his position, Jdg 9:2. These words, then, either mean that Gideon seized the power, but rejected the title, of king; or they represent the view, which apparently came to the front in the closing years of the Northern Kingdom, that earthly kingship was inconsistent with the sovereignty of Jehovah; cf. 1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 10:19; 1 Samuel 12:12; 1 Samuel 12:17; 1 Samuel 12:19 (E source), Hosea 13:10 f. The latter is the explanation most generally accepted.

Judges 8:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Gideon's Remaining Acts, and Death. - Judges 8:22, Judges 8:23. As Gideon had so gloriously delivered Israel from the severe and long oppression on the part of the Midianites, the Israelites offered him an hereditary crown. "The men of Israel" were hardly all the twelve tribes, but probably only the northern tribes of the western part of the land already mentioned in Judges 6:35, who had suffered the most severely from the Midianitish oppression, and had been the first to gather round Gideon to make an attack upon the foe. The temptation to accept the government of Israel was resisted by this warrior of God. "Neither I nor my son shall rule over you; Jehovah shall rule over you," was his reply to this offer, containing an evident allusion to the destination and constitution of the tribes of Israel as a nation which Jehovah had chosen to be His own possession, and to which He had just made himself known in so conspicuous a manner as their omnipotent Ruler and King. This refusal of the regal dignity on the part of Gideon is not at variance with the fact, that Moses had already foreseen the possibility that at some future time the desire for a king would arise in the nation, and had given them a law for the king expressly designed for such circumstances as these (Deuteronomy 17:14.). For Gideon did not decline the honour because Jehovah was King in Israel, i.e., because he regarded an earthly monarchy in Israel as irreconcilable with the heavenly monarchy of Jehovah, but simply because he thought the government of Jehovah in Israel amply sufficient, and did not consider either himself or his sons called to found an earthly monarchy.