We read (vi. 25-32), that in the night
after his call Gideon destroyed, at the commandment of Jehovah,
the altar of Baal in Ophra, his native town, as well as the
Ashera which stood beside it; and that in place of it he built an
altar to Jehovah, and burned on it a yearling bullock, with the
wood of the Ashera for fuel. The next morning the people of Ophra
were full of indignation, and demanded that the author of the
outrage should be given up to them to be put to death; his
father, however, withstood them, saying, "Will ye contend for Baal?
Will ye save him? If he be a god, let Baal contend (Heb. Jareb
Baal) for himself." In consequence of this speech Gideon received
his second name of Jerubbaal. This conflicts with what is said in
an earlier part of the chapter. There Gideon has already made an
altar of the great stone under the oak of Ophra, where he saw
Jehovah sitting, and has offered upon it the first sacrifice, which
was devoured by flames breaking out of themselves, the Deity
Himself ascending in the flames to heaven. Why the two altars
and the two stories of their inauguration, both tracing their
origin to the patron of Ophra? They do not agree together, and
the reason is plain why the second was added.
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