‘ Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has broken down his altar.” '
Joash was a man of remarkable good sense who probably had little faith in Baal's ability to act. By renaming his son Jerubbaal (‘let Baal plead' or ‘'let the lord plead') he accomplished a number of things. Firstly he satisfied the angry crowds. It seemed to them that he had responded to them and put a curse on his son, and they were satisfied and eagerly awaited the outcome. Then he satisfied Gideon who would interpret it as referring to ‘the lord Yahweh'. Thirdly he left the issue open until it was apparent who had come out on top. He left the issue in divine hands. Gideon is elsewhere called Jerubbesheth (2 Samuel 11:21). This is because the writers replaced ‘baal' with ‘bosheth' which means ‘shame'.