This verse and the following one interrupt the flow of what Jotham had started to say. It leaves the conditional clauses unfinished, since no consequence is immediately expressed. It is as if Jotham is overcome with emotion and begins reciting all the things his father, Gideon, did for the people of Shechem—things for which they were never grateful. Several versions put a long dash at the beginning of this verse and another one at the end of 9.18 as a way of marking these comments as an aside. Parentheses or square brackets might make it appear that this is background material, when, in fact, it is an important part of Jotham’s speech. How translators handle such comments depends on their language.

The three short clauses in this verse sum up the “good” Gideon did, describing his efforts to deliver the people of Shechem. The quickness of speech reveals Jotham’s strong emotion.

For my father fought for you: For renders the Hebrew relative clause marker ʾasher meaning “which,” here introducing the “good” that Gideon had done. Normally, Jotham would have said “our father,” but here he calls Gideon my father, perhaps because of his emotions and because he is the only one of seventy sons who survived the attack of their half-brother Abimelech. Also, this is certainly a wordplay, since the Hebrew word for my father (ʾabi) makes up the first part of Abimelech’s name. Fought renders the Hebrew verb (lacham) meaning “battle” or “wage war” (see verse 1.1). The pronoun you refers to the people of Shechem, even though Gideon did not fight specifically for them, but rather for their whole tribe, when he and his army defeated the Midianites.

And risked his life: Jotham claims that Gideon risked his own life to free the people of Shechem from the Midianite oppression. The Hebrew says literally “and he threw his life in front,” that is, “he put his life on the line.” There is nothing in the text to say which particular incident Jotham has in view, though we might think of the time when Gideon crept up to the Midianite camp (verse 7.11), when he led his tiny army to sound their trumpets (verse 7.19), when he faced the anger of the Ephraimites (verse 8.1-3), or when he finally captured the Midianite kings (verse 8.12). However, the purpose of the statement is clear. Jotham wants the people of Shechem to realize that they should have appreciated the “good” his father had done for them. Most languages will have an idiomatic expression for risked his life. If not, translators may say “was willing to die.”

And rescued you from the hand of Midian: This is an overall summary of the “good” Gideon did: he saved his people from their enemies. For the Hebrew verb rendered rescued, see verse 8.34. It is not the word used typically to describe the actions of the Israel’s judges. Nevertheless, it carries the same meaning of “deliver.” The pronoun you still refers to the people of Shechem, though certainly a wider population might also be in view. For from the hand of Midian, see verse 8.22. This clause is an independent one in Hebrew, but some versions prefer to render it as a dependent one. For example, Good News Translation combines it with the previous one, saying “He risked his life to save you from the Midianites,” and New Living Translation has “and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites.” Translators can keep the three independent clauses or combine them, depending on the constraints of the target language.

This aside is part of Jotham’s appeal to the people of Shechem. He begs them to think again about the wisdom of making Abimelech their king. He contrasts Abimelech, a worthless bramble, with his father Gideon, a real hero of Israel.

Translation models for this verse are:

• My father fought for you all. He risked his own life to rescue you from the oppression of the Midianites.

• Listen, my father went to war for you. He put his life on the line for you, and saved you from your enemies, the Midianites.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .