Judges 8:19
in Judges 8“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as Jehovah liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
KJV
And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
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This verse in Judges 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The sons of my mother - A much closer relation than that of brothers by the father only. (Compare Gen 43:29; Deu 13:6; Psa 69:8). This is the only hint preserved of the transaction. We cannot say exactly when the slaughter of Gideon’s brethren on Mount Tabor took place, whether before the outbreak of the war Jdg 6:33, or in the retreat and flight of the Midianites Jdg 7:22.
This site's exposition
did you kill at Tabor
on Judges 8:18-19
The pursuit now shows its held-back cause: these kings had killed Gideon's brothers at Tabor. Their answer, "each one resembling the son of a king", sits oddly beside 6:15, where Gideon called his clan the weakest in Manasseh. His oath that he would have spared them places the killing under the avenger of blood of Numbers 35:19 and Deuteronomy 19:12, carried out by a judge on foreign kings.
This site's exposition
the sons of my mother
Albert Barnes notes that the phrase marks full brothers. He adds that the killing at Tabor is mentioned only here, and it may have come before the war of 6:33 or in the flight of 7:22. John Wesley observes that these kings were no Canaanites, so only the brothers' blood made their death due.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I would not slay - For being not Canaanites, he was not obliged to kill them; but they having killed his brethren, and that in cool blood, he was by law the avenger of their blood.
And he said, they were my brethren, even the sons of my mother,....
Their other crimes might have been forgiven, at least Gideon would not have slain them himself, let them have answered it to the people; but the voice of his brethren's blood cries, cries to him, now it is in the power of his hand to avenge it, and therefore there is no remedy--by him must their blood be shed, though they were kings.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother--That is, uterine brothers; but, in all countries where polygamy prevails, "the son of my mother" implies a closeness of relationship and a warmth of affection never awakened by the looser term, "brother."
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמַ֕ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַחַ֥י | ʾachai | [were] brothers my | H251 → | 630 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אִמִּ֖י | ʾimi | mother my | H517 → | 220 times |
| הֵ֑ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| חַי־ | chai- | [by] [the] life | H2416 → | |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | of Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| ל֚וּ | lu | if | H3863 → | |
| הַחֲיִתֶ֣ם | hachayitem | you had let live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| אוֹתָ֔ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָרַ֖גְתִּי | haragti | I killed | H2026 → | 167 times |
| אֶתְכֶֽם׃ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
וַיֹּאמַ֕רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
אַחַ֥י[were] brothers my
ʾachaiH251 →630 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
אִמִּ֖יmother my
ʾimiH517 →220 times
הֵ֑םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
חַי־[by] [the] life
chai-H2416 →
יְהוָ֗הof Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
ל֚וּif
luH3863 →
הַחֲיִתֶ֣םyou had let live
hachayitemH2421 →282 times
אוֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הָרַ֖גְתִּיI killed
haragtiH2026 →167 times
אֶתְכֶֽם׃<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.