Discovery BoxJudges 8:27
Context8:27 Gideon used all this to make 1 an ephod, 2 which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites 3 prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it 4 there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
Judges 8:33
Context8:33 After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith 5 their god.
Judges 11:1
Context11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. 6
Judges 19:2
Context19:2 However, she 7 got angry at him 8 and went home 9 to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months,
[8:27] 1 tn Heb “made it into.”
[8:27] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).
[8:27] 4 tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:33] 5 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.
[11:1] 9 tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”
[19:2] 13 tn Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[19:2] 14 tn Or “was unfaithful to him.” Many have understood the Hebrew verb וַתִּזְנֶה (vattizneh) as being from זָנָה (zanah, “to be a prostitute”), but it may be derived from a root meaning “to be angry; to hate” attested in Akkadian (see HALOT 275 s.v. II זנה).
