Chapter 10

some to represent the more ancient tradition. The double name of the hero, Gideon-Jerubbaal, has led some to assign its elements respectively to Gideon, judge of the western portion of Manasseh, and Jerubbaal, judge of the eastern Manasseh, and to the consequent fusion of the two men in one.

** This is an assumption which follows reasonably from Judges viii. 18, 19.

*** The site of the Ophrah of Abiezer is not known for certain, but it would seem from the narrative that it was in the neighbourhood of Shechem.

**** The position of Gideon-Jerubbaal as head of the house of Abiezer follows clearly from the narrative; if he is represented in the first part of the account as a man of humble origin (Judges vi. 15, 16), it was to exalt the power of Jahveh, who was accustomed to choose His instruments from amongst the lowly. The name Jerubbaal (1 Sam. xii. 11:2 Sam.