“Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”
My Notes
What Does Judges 6:24 Mean?
After his terrifying encounter with the angel of the LORD — and God's reassurance that he would not die — Gideon's first act is to build an altar. He names it Jehovah-Shalom, meaning "The LORD is Peace" (or "The LORD send peace"). This is one of the compound names of God in the Old Testament, each one revealing a facet of His character discovered through personal experience.
The name Jehovah-Shalom emerges directly from what Gideon just experienced. He had been afraid he would die from seeing God face to face (Judges 6:22-23), and God spoke: "Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die." Gideon named the altar after the word God spoke over him in his moment of terror. The name isn't theological theory — it's personal testimony. Gideon knew God was peace because God had spoken peace to him when he was afraid.
The altar stood in Ophrah, Gideon's hometown, among the Abiezrites — his own clan. The narrator notes it was "yet" standing at the time of writing, meaning it persisted as a landmark for generations. Like the stone memorials in Joshua, this altar served as a physical reminder of a spiritual encounter. Anyone passing through Ophrah could point to it and ask: what happened here?
Reflection Questions
- 1.If you built an altar to mark your most significant encounter with God, what would you name it? What word captures what He was to you in that moment?
- 2.Gideon was surrounded by chaos but named God 'Peace.' How does God's peace differ from the absence of conflict?
- 3.The altar stood for generations as a testimony. What visible markers of God's faithfulness exist in your life that others could see and ask about?
- 4.God spoke peace to Gideon before giving him a mission. Why do you think peace needed to come first, before the call to fight?
Devotional
Gideon didn't name the altar "The LORD is Powerful" after the fire consumed his offering. He didn't name it "The LORD is Terrifying" after his encounter nearly undid him. He named it "The LORD is Peace." Because the thing that ultimately defined the encounter wasn't the fire or the fear — it was the peace God spoke into his terror.
That tells you something about what Gideon needed most. He was hiding from the Midianites, threshing wheat in a winepress, afraid of an innumerable enemy. His nation was in caves. His family worshipped Baal. Everything around him was chaos and fear. And in the middle of all of it, God's defining word to him was: peace. Not strategy. Not a battle plan. Peace.
The names we give God tend to reflect our deepest need at the moment we met Him. If you met God in grief, you might call Him Comforter. If you met Him in provision, you might call Him Provider. Gideon met Him in fear, and he called Him Peace. What would your altar be named? Not the theological term you'd use in a Bible study, but the honest, experience-born name that captures what God has been to you in your most desperate moment?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And it came to pass the same night,.... The night which followed the day in which the angel appeared to Gideon as he was…
Gideon’s naming the altar which he built, in commemoration of the words of peace spoken by the Angel, is very similar to…
It is not said what effect the prophet's sermon had upon the people, but we may hope it had a good effect, and that some…
built an altar there where the Deity had appeared; the patriarchs observed this custom, see Gen 12:7; Gen 26:25; Gen…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture