Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you.”
Parallel Translations
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Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you.”
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And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.
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And Gideon said unto them: 'I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.'
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Judges 8:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 33:22 For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.
- 1 Samuel 12:12 “When you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us;’ when Yahweh your God was your king.
- 1 Samuel 10:19 But you have today rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, ‘No! Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes, and by your thousands.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:24 We don’t control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
- Judges 2:18 When Yahweh raised up judges for them, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them.
- Judges 10:18 The people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
- Judges 11:9-11 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivers them before me, will I be your head?” The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.” Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah.
- 1 Samuel 8:6-7 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- 1 Peter 5:3 not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
- Isaiah 63:19 We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.
- Luke 22:24-27 A dispute also arose among them, which of them was considered to be greatest. He said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so with you. But one who is the greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves. For who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn’t it he who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 8:23 And Gideon said unto them, I will…
Jdg 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.
Ver. 23. I will not rule over you.] Since I cannot without manifest wrong done to God. This modesty of his in refusing such an offer was very commendable; as it was afterwards in Alphonsus, King of Arragon, and Frederick, the Elector of Saxony, who might have been chosen emperors of Germany, but would not. Rodolphus, Duke of Suevia, was too forward to accept of the empire offered him by Pope Hildebrand; and all too late repented it. So was Silvester II, who for seven years’ enjoyment of the popedom, gave his soul to the devil.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I will not rule over you, to wit, as…
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 1Sa 8:6,7.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule…
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:
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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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I will not rule - As a king. The…
I will not rule - As a king. The Lord shall rule - In a special manner, as he hath hitherto done, by Judges, whom God particularly appointed and directed, even by Urim and Thummim, and assisted upon all occasions; whereas Kings had only a general dependance upon God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 23. The Lord shall rule over you] Few…
Verse 23. The Lord shall rule over you] Few with such power at their command would have acted as Gideon. His speech calls them back to their first principles, and should have excited in them both shame and contrition. How different is this speech from that of Oliver Cromwell when the commons offered him the crown of England!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 8:23. I will not rule over you —…
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, Deu 1:17. And Solomon is said to sit upon the throne of the Lord, (1Ch 29:23,) and the kingdom of his posterity is called the kingdom of the Lord, (2Ch 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.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 23. The Lord shall rule over you — Your…
23. The Lord shall rule over you — Your king shall still be Jehovah, not Gideon. By choosing a Gideon or a Saul the nation would be choosing a human instead of a divine sovereign. The people were ever in danger of forgetting the Divine Author of all civil government, and especially so in times of popular excitement and enthusiasm, when the masses either seem, or assume to be, sovereign. At such times all should be reminded that there is a power higher than the civil ruler. It does not appear that Gideon, during the forty years of peace (Jdg_8:28) that followed this victory over Midian, performed any of the ordinary duties of a civil ruler. It is not said that he judged Israel at all, though the silence of the history must not be construed into evidence that he never did. He was raised up to deliver the nation from the yoke of Midian, and, having nobly accomplished that work, he retired to his native city and dwelt there till his death.
But whatever the form of a government — whether it be a nation miraculously led and instructed, like Israel under Moses, Joshua, or the Judges, or a monarchy like that erected in the days of Saul, or modern empires or republics — the Lord is still the Ruler. All civil governments must have their officers, and these may differ widely in their character and powers; but “the powers that be are ordained of God,” and the civil ruler is “the minister of God.” Rom_13:1-6. This is a doctrine of the Old Testament as well as of the New, and it is therefore the duty of all civil governments to know and acknowledge their dependence on the Supreme Ruler.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. I will not rule over you] But ch.…
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. 1Sa_8:7; 1Sa_10:19; 1Sa_12:12; 1Sa_12:17; 1Sa_12:19 (E source), Hos_13:10 f. The latter is the explanation most generally accepted.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (23) The Lord shall rule over you.—Num_23:21; Deu_33:5; 1Sa_6:12.…
(23) The Lord shall rule over you.—Num_23:21; Deu_33:5; 1Sa_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 Jdg_10:2-3; Jdg_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 Deu_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.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.