Discovery BoxJudges 8:24-35
Context8:24 Gideon continued, 1 “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.” 2 (The Midianites 3 had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.) 8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” 4 So they 5 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. 6 This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, 7 purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. 8 8:27 Gideon used all this to make 9 an ephod, 10 which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites 11 prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it 12 there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. 13 The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. 14 8:29 Then Jerub-Baal son of Joash went home and settled down. 15 8:30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives. 16 8:31 His concubine, 17 who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 18 8:32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very 19 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 20 their god. 8:34 The Israelites did not remain true 21 to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them. 8:35 They did not treat 22 the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.
[8:24] 1 tn Heb “said to them.”
[8:24] 2 tn Heb “Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder.”
[8:24] 3 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:25] 4 tn Heb “We will indeed give.”
[8:25] 5 tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.
[8:26] 6 sn Seventeen hundred gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.
[8:26] 8 tn Heb “the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.”
[8:27] 9 tn Heb “made it into.”
[8:27] 10 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] 11 tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).
[8:27] 12 tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:28] 13 tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”
[8:28] 14 tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”
[8:29] 15 tn Heb “went and lived in his house.”
[8:30] 16 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] 17 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] 18 sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”
[8:33] 20 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] 22 tn Heb “did not do loyalty with,” or “did not act faithfully toward.”
