Discovery BoxJudges 8:13-35
Context8:13 Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass 1 of Heres. 8:14 He captured a young man from Succoth 2 and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth’s officials and city leaders – seventy-seven men in all. 3 8:15 He approached the men of Succoth and said, “Look what I have! 4 Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” 5 8:16 He seized the leaders 6 of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then “threshed” the men of Succoth with them. 7 8:17 He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city’s men.
8:18 He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me 8 the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” 9 8:19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear, 10 as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” 8:20 He ordered Jether his firstborn son, “Come on! 11 Kill them!” But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword, 12 because he was still young. 8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, 13 “Come on, 14 you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” 15 So Gideon killed 16 Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.
8:22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” 17 8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 8:24 Gideon continued, 18 “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.” 19 (The Midianites 20 had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.) 8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” 21 So they 22 spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it. 8:26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. 23 This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, 24 purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. 25 8:27 Gideon used all this to make 26 an ephod, 27 which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites 28 prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it 29 there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. 30 The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. 31 8:29 Then Jerub-Baal son of Joash went home and settled down. 32 8:30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives. 33 8:31 His concubine, 34 who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 35 8:32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very 36 old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
8:33 After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith 37 their god. 8:34 The Israelites did not remain true 38 to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them. 8:35 They did not treat 39 the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.
[8:14] 2 tn Heb “from the men of Succoth.”
[8:14] 3 tn Heb “wrote down for him the officials of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.”
[8:15] 4 tn Heb “Look!” The words “what I have” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[8:15] 5 tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your exhausted men bread?”
[8:16] 7 tc The translation follows the reading of several ancient versions (LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) in assuming the form וַיָּדָשׁ (vayyadash) from the verb דּוֹשׁ (dosh, “thresh”) as in v. 7. The MT reads instead the form וַיֹּדַע (vayyoda’, “make known”), a Hiphil form of יָדַע (yadah). In this case one could translate, “he used them [i.e., the thorns and briers] to teach the men of Succoth a lesson.”
[8:18] 9 tn Heb “each one like the appearance of sons of the king.”
[8:19] 10 tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[8:20] 12 tn Heb “did not draw his sword for he was afraid.”
[8:21] 13 tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[8:21] 15 tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”
[8:21] 16 tn Heb “arose and killed.”
[8:24] 18 tn Heb “said to them.”
[8:24] 19 tn Heb “Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder.”
[8:24] 20 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:25] 21 tn Heb “We will indeed give.”
[8:25] 22 tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.
[8:26] 23 sn Seventeen hundred gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.
[8:26] 25 tn Heb “the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.”
[8:27] 26 tn Heb “made it into.”
[8:27] 27 sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.
[8:27] 28 tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).
[8:27] 29 tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:28] 30 tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”
[8:28] 31 tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”
[8:29] 32 tn Heb “went and lived in his house.”
[8:30] 33 tn Heb “Gideon had seventy sons who went out from his thigh, for he had many wives.” The Hebrew word יָרֵךְ (yarekh, “thigh”) is a euphemism here for the penis.
[8:31] 34 sn A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).
[8:31] 35 sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”
[8:33] 37 sn Baal-Berith was a local manifestation of the Canaanite storm god. The name means, ironically, “Baal of the covenant.” Israel’s covenant allegiance had indeed shifted.
[8:35] 39 tn Heb “did not do loyalty with,” or “did not act faithfully toward.”
