Judges 8:23 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

The Lord shall rule over you. — Numbers 23:21; Deuteronomy 33:5; 1 Samuel 6:12. Gideon refused the splendid temptation of an hereditary crown, though, in strict accordance with Divine guidance, he was willing to be their judge (Shaphat, as in Judges 10:2-3; Judges 12:7, &c.). Cassel compares the remark of Washington when he accepted the Presidency, because he would “obey the voice of the people.” saying that “no people could be more bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men than the people of the United States” (Marshall’s Life of Washington, 2:146). The day anticipated in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 had not yet come. Up to this point “we feel all the goodness of Gideon. There is a sweetness and nobleness mingled with his courage, something of the past greatness of Joshua, something of the future grace of David.” He reminds us in some respects of Henry Y. of England, and Henry IV. of France.