Judges 8:28-31·~1 min
Forty Years of Peace
Midian remains broken and the land has rest for forty years while Gideon lives. He returns home, fathers many sons through many wives, and also has a son in Shechem named Abimelech.
I28n this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon, 29and he — Jerubbaal son of Joash — returned home and settled down. 30Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives. 31His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
Section summaryMidian stays subdued, and the land rests for forty years during Gideon’s days. Gideon returns home, settles into prosperity, and his large household, including a son by a concubine in Shechem named Abimelech, quietly points ahead to what follows.
Role in the chapterThis brief section records the settled result of Gideon’s victory while planting the next thread in the story. Peace holds, but the shape of Gideon’s household already carries future trouble.