Judges 8:23

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, Judges 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. 1 Samuel 8:7; 1Sa 10:19; 1 Samuel 12:12; 1 Samuel 12:17; 1 Samuel 12:19 (E source), Hosea 13:10 f. The latter is the explanation most generally accepted.