22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon , "Rule over us, both you and your son , also your son's son , for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian ." 23 But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you." 24 Yet Gideon said to them, "I would request e of you, that each of you give me an earring from his spoil ." (For they had gold earrings , because they were Ishmaelites .) 25 They said , "We will surely give them." So they spread out a garment , and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil . 26 The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 e e shekels of gold , besides e the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian , and besides e the neck bands that were on their camels' necks . 27 Gideon made it into an ephod , and placed it in his city , Ophrah , and all Israel played the harlot with it there , so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household . 28 So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel , and they did not lift up their heads anymore . And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon .
29 Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house . 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons who were his direct descendants , for he had many wives . 31 His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son , and he named e him Abimelech . 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash , in Ophrah of the Abiezrites . 33 Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead , that the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals , and made Baal-berith their god . 34 Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God , who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side ; 35 nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon ) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 8:22-35
Commentary on Judges 8:22-28
(Read Judges 8:22-28)
Gideon refused the government the people offered him. No good man can be pleased with any honour done to himself, which belongs only to God. Gideon thought to keep up the remembrance of this victory by an ephod, made of the choicest of the spoils. But probably this ephod had, as usual, a teraphim annexed to it, and Gideon intended this for an oracle to be consulted. Many are led into false ways by one false step of a good man. It became a snare to Gideon himself, and it proved the ruin of the family. How soon will ornaments which feed the lust of the eye, and form the pride of life, as well as tend to the indulgences of the flesh, bring shame on those who are fond of them!
Commentary on Judges 8:29-35
(Read Judges 8:29-35)
As soon as Gideon was dead, who kept the people to the worship of the God of Israel, they found themselves under no restraint; then they went after Baalim, and showed no kindness to the family of Gideon. No wonder if those who forget their God, forget their friends. Yet conscious of our own ingratitude to the Lord, and observing that of mankind in general, we should learn to be patient under any unkind returns we meet with for our poor services, and resolve, after the Divine example, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.