What is the context?
Midian remains subdued, and the land has forty years of rest during Gideon’s lifetime. The phrase about not raising its head describes Midian’s defeat. The rescue has brought a real period of peace, even though the previous verses have already identified trouble around Gideon’s ephod.
The account then introduces his large household: many wives, seventy sons, and another son, Abimelech, born to his concubine at Shechem. A concubine held the status of a secondary wife, as the USCCB’s scholarly note on verse 31 explains. These family details prepare for the struggle over power in the next chapter; they are part of where Gideon’s story leads.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley understands Gideon’s return home as a life between the public service of a judge and the royal court he had declined. Gill notes that the introduction of Abimelech prepares the reader for the following account. These verses report both the lasting relief from Midian and the household from which the next conflict will emerge.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.