Judges 6:32

on that day he called him Jerubbaal Or with a slight change, he was called; in consequence of the foregoing episode the people give Gideon a new name. This is explained to mean -Let Baal contend against him"; but the explanation will not hold good, for (a) if Jerub-baalis connected with the verb rîb-contend," which is questionable, the meaning must be -Baal contends," without any further thought of -against him": (b) of course Baal did notcontend against Gideon, the point of the story is Baal's impotence. The explanation given in the text rests, not upon a scientific etymology, but upon an assonance, as often elsewhere in the O.T. (e.g. Genesis 4:1; Exodus 2:10); Jerub-baalsuggested the shrewd remark of Joash in Judges 6:31, let Baal contend. Originally, no doubt, the name had quite another significance, and baal, i.e. -lord," referred to Jehovah. In early days baalcould be used without offence in this way; thus we find such names as Ish-baal, Merib-baal, Baal-yada in the families of Saul and David, whose loyalty to Jehovah was above suspicion; one of David's heroes was even called Baal-jah. But the dangerous associations of the title led the prophets to discountenance this usage (see especially Hosea 2:16), and it was given up; the names just mentioned were altered to Ish-bosheth (-shame"), Mephi-bosheth, El-yada 1 [36]. Jerub-baal was allowed to stand, because the general drift of the present narrative (as distinct from the explanation given in this verse) suggested the interpretation -Adversary of Baal," cf. LXX. cod. A δικαστήριον τοῦ Βάαλ; nevertheless in 2 Samuel 11:21 the name is changed to Jerub-besheth. If the name, then, originally had nothing to do with the Canaanite Baal, and therefore was not given to Gideon in consequence of the episode related here, we can only suppose that the story grew out of a fanciful etymology. For linguistic reasons many scholars consider that Jerub-baalis not connected with the verb rîb-contend 2 [37]," and that the proper spelling is Jeru-baal, i.e. -Baal (Jehovah) founds," like Jeru-el, Jeri-yahu; none of the forms in the LXX have the doubled letter (Ἀρβάαλ, Ἰαρβάλ, Ἰεροβάαλ, etc.).

[36] Cf. 1 Chronicles 9:39-40; 1 Chronicles 14:7; 1 Chronicles 12:5 with 2 Samuel 2:8; 2 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 5:16.

[37] The imperfect of rîbis not yârôb(whence jerub) but yârîb; cf. the pr. name Jeho-yarib 1 Chronicles 24:7.