Judges 8:7

8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help, ¹  after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh ²  your skin ³  with ⁴  desert thorns and briers.”

Judges 8:12

8:12 When Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, Gideon ⁵  chased them and captured the two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. He had surprised ⁶  their entire army.

Judges 8:18

8:18 He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me ⁷  the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” ⁸ 

Judges 8:21

8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, ⁹  “Come on, ¹⁰  you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” ¹¹  So Gideon killed ¹²  Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.

[8:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[8:7]  ² sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.

[8:7]  ³ tn Or “flesh.”

[8:7]  ⁴ tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.

[8:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁶ tn Or “routed”; Heb “caused to panic.”

[8:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “Where are?”

[8:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “each one like the appearance of sons of the king.”

[8:21]  ¹³ tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Arise.”

[8:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”

[8:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “arose and killed.”