Judges 8:20

Jdg 8:20 And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, [and] slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he [was] yet a youth.

Ver. 20. And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them.]

“ Adeo a teneris assuescere magnum est. ”

Gideon would inure his son to manlike actions from his youth, and make him share with him in the honour of his victory.

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.

Jdg 8:20. He said unto Jether, Up, and slay them — Some think he said this to animate his son to the use of arms for his God and country, and that he might have a share in the honour of the victory. It must be observed, that it was not unusual or disgraceful for great persons to do execution upon offenders in ancient times; no more than it was to sentence them to death: and therefore they had not, as now, public executioners; but Saul commanded such as waited on him to kill the priests; and Doeg, one of his great officers, performed that office, 1Sa 22:17-18. And Samuel himself is said to have hewed Agag to pieces in Gilgal; and Benaiah, the general of the army, to have fallen upon Joab at the horns of the altar. But the youth feared — The two kings were men, it is likely, of good stature, and of a fierce and stern countenance.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

he said unto Jether his first-born, Up, and slay them--The nearest of kin was the blood-avenger; but a magistrate might order any one to do the work of the executioner; and the person selected was always of a rank equal or proportioned to that of the party doomed to suffer (Kg1 2:29). Gideon intended, then, by the order to Jether, to put an honor on his son, by employing him to slay two enemies of his country; and on the youth declining, he performed the bloody deed himself.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. He said unto Jether his first-born] By the ancient laws of war, prisoners taken in war might be either slain, sold, or kept for slaves. To put a captive enemy to death no executioner was required. Gideon slays Zebah and Zalmunna with his own hand. So Samuel is said to have hewn Agag in pieces, 1Sa 15:33. Benaiah slew Joab, 1Kg 2:25. Saul orders his guards to slay the priests who had contributed to the escape of David, 1Sa 22:17; and David caused one of his attendants to slay the Amalekite who pretended to have slain Saul, 2Sa 1:15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(20) And he said unto Jether.—By the jus talionis. as well as by every other consideration of that time, Gideon, as the last survivor of all his kingly brothers, would hold himself justified in putting his captives to death. Jether also would inherit the duties of goel (Num_35:12; 2Sa_2:22, &c), and Gideon desired both to train the boy to fearlessness against the enemies of Israel (Jos_10:24-25). to give him prestige, and to add to the disgrace of the Midianite kings. Again. Gideon must only be judged by the standard and the customs of his own day. (Comp. 1Sa_15:33, Samuel and Agag; 2Sa_1:15, David and the Amalekite.) The name Jether is another form of Jethro and means “pre-eminence.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Jether his firstborn] Did Gideon wish to bestow an honour upon his son, and humiliate these famous warriors? Or was the youth chosen for ceremonial reasons? Robertson Smith compares the choice of young men as sacrificers in Exo_24:5, and illustrates from the custom of the Saracens who charged lads with the slaying of their captives; Rel. of Semites, p. 396 n.

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.

And he said unto Jether, his firstborn, up, and slay them,.... Being the near kinsman of his father's brethren, whom these kings had slain, was a proper person to avenge their blood on them; and the rather Gideon might order him to do it, for the greater mortification of the kings, to die by the hand of a youth; and for the honour of his son, to be the slayer of two kings, and to inure him to draw his sword against the enemies of Israel, and embolden him to do such exploits:

but the youth drew not his sword, for he feared, because he was yet a youth; his not drawing is sword was not out of disobedience to his father, but through fear of the kings; not of their doing him any harm, being bound; but there was perhaps a ferocity, as well as majesty in their countenances, which made the young man timorous and fearful.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It was Gideon’s place to act the part of the “avenger of blood” Num 35:12; Deu 19:6. The fierce manners of the age break out in the slaying of the captives (compare 1Sa 15:32-33), and in Gideon’s attempt to initiate his youthful son Jether in the stern work of slaying his country’s enemies.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Up and slay them; partly, that he might animate him to the use of arms for his God and country against their enemies, and to the exercise of justice; partly, that the death of those mischievous persons might be more shameful and painful; and partly, that he might have some share in the honour of the victory.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. Said unto Jether — He would add to their disgrace by making them perish by the hand of a boy. They had dared to lift their hands against his kingly brethren, and now, as blood-avenger, he would have them perish with all possible ignominy and reproach.

He feared — The youth was not used to such bloody work, and perhaps the threatening looks of the two captive kings terrified him.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He said unto Jether, etc. These marks of savage life are painful to contemplate in such a man as Gideon. But it is well for us to be made aware how the best and greatest men cannot rise above the manners and received maxims of their age; and it teaches us to make due allowance for the faults of uncivilised men with whom we have to do, whether Afghans, or Zulus, or others.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Up, and slay - That he might animate him to the use of arms for his God and country, and that he might have a share in the honour of the victory.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Jether

This is the name of Gideon's son. (See: How to Translate Names)

For as the man is, so is his strength

This is an idiom. AT: "It is a job for a man to do" (See: Idiom)

crescent

This is a curved shape with two points. This shape occurs when the moon is mostly covered in shadow.

ornaments

decorations

translationWords

firstborn

sword

Gideon

camel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

But the boy would not draw his sword to execute them, for he was afraid of them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.