Literally, “let Baal fight,” or, “let Baal be an adversary” (see ch. 7:1). The name was a standing rebuke and challenge to Baal worship, for Gideon’s continued life and prosperity was a daily witness to the impotence of the heathen deity to avenge himself. It showed that fear of Baal was groundless. A later writer calls him Jerubbesheth, literally, “let shame contend” (2 Sam. 11:21).