Judges 8: Gideon chases the kings of Midian and makes an ephod

In plain English: The men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight Midian?" And they quarreled with him fiercely (this Bible: rebuked him sharply).

In plain English: He said to them, "What have I done now compared with you? Are not the leftover grapes (this Bible: the gleaning of the grapes) of Ephraim better than the whole grape harvest (this Bible: the vintage) of Abiezer?

Good to know: Gideon answers with a saying from the vineyard. "The gleaning" is the few grapes left after the harvest, and "the vintage" is the whole harvest. In verse 3 Gideon explains it: Ephraim's small share, killing the two princes Oreb and Zeeb (7:25), was greater than all that Gideon had done.

In plain English: God has given the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hand. What was I able to do compared with you?" When he said this, their anger (literally: their spirit) against him cooled.

In plain English: Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men with him, worn out yet still chasing.

In plain English: He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give some loaves of bread to the people who are following me (literally: at my feet), because they are worn out, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

In plain English: The officials (this Bible: princes) of Succoth said, "Are the hands (literally: the palm) of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

In plain English: Gideon said, "Because of that, when Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh (this Bible: tear) your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers."

In plain English: From there he went up to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.

In plain English: He said to the men of Penuel too, "When I come back safely (literally: in peace), I will tear down this tower."

In plain English: Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand men. These were all that were left of the whole army of the people of the east, because one hundred twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.

In plain English: Gideon went up by the road of those who live in tents, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army, because the army felt safe (this Bible: secure).

In plain English: Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, and he chased them. He captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and terrified (this Bible: confused) their whole army.

In plain English: Gideon the son of Joash came back from the battle by the ascent of Heres (or: at the rising of the sun).

The Hebrew word: "Heres" is cheres. The dictionary gives it as the name of "a mountain in Palestine", and the same letters as a word for "the sun": the word in "before the sun went down" in 14:18.

What changes: Read as "the ascent of Heres", the verse names the road by which Gideon came back. Read as "at the rising of the sun", it says when he came back. The old Greek (Brenton) reads it another way again: "from the battle of Ares".

In plain English: He caught a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down (this Bible: described) for him the princes and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.

In plain English: He came to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you mocked me, saying, 'Are the hands (literally: the palm) of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?'"

In plain English: He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught (or: tore) the men of Succoth.

The Hebrew word: "Taught" is yada, the usual word for "to know". The dictionary says it is used in many senses, including "instruction" and "punishment".

What changes: Read as "taught", Gideon made the men of Succoth learn by punishing them with thorns and briers, as he had warned in verse 7. The old Greek (Brenton) has "with them he tore the men of the city", the same word it uses for Gideon's warning in verse 7, "I will tear your flesh". Either way, the verse uses the thorns and briers of verse 7.

In plain English: He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

In plain English: Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What were the men like (literally: where are the men) whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "They were like you. Each one of them looked like a king's son."

Good to know: The text has not told before that Zebah and Zalmunna killed men at Tabor. Verse 18 is the first time it is mentioned, and in verse 19 Gideon says they were his brothers.

In plain English: He said, "They were my brothers, my mother's sons. As Yahweh lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you."

In plain English: He said to Jether his firstborn, "Get up and kill them!" But the young man did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, since he was still a youth.

In plain English: Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Get up yourself and strike us down, because as the man is, so is his strength." So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

In plain English: Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you, your son, and your grandson (literally: your son's son), because you have saved us from the hand of Midian."

In plain English: Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you."

Good to know: Gideon refuses to rule, saying "Yahweh shall rule over you". In the next chapter the men of Shechem make his son Abimelech king (9:6). When Israel later asks Samuel for a king, Yahweh says, "they have rejected me as the king over them" (1 Samuel 8:7).

In plain English: Gideon said to them, "I do have one request: let each of you give me an earring from his plunder." (They had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

Good to know: Here the Midianites are called Ishmaelites. The story of Joseph does the same: in Genesis 37:28 Midianite merchants sell him to the Ishmaelites, and in 37:36 "the Midianites" sell him into Egypt. The text does not explain how the two names are related.

In plain English: They answered, "We will gladly give them." So they spread out a cloak (this Bible: a garment), and each man threw onto it an earring from his plunder.

In plain English: The weight of the gold earrings he asked for was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold. This was besides the crescent ornaments, the pendants, and the purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the chains (or: necklaces) on their camels' necks.

In plain English: Gideon made an ephod out of it and put it in his city, Ophrah. Then all Israel played the prostitute with it there, and it became a trap (this Bible: a snare) for Gideon and his household.

The Hebrew word: "An ephod" is ephod, which the dictionary gives as "a girdle; specifically the ephod or high-priest's shoulder-piece; also generally, an image". In Exodus the ephod is part of the high priest's clothing, made with gold (Exodus 28:6).

What changes: Read as a garment, it was something worn, like the high priest's ephod in Exodus. Read as "an image", it was an object of gold made for worship. The text does not describe it. It says only that it was made from the gold, that all Israel "played the prostitute" with it, and that it became a snare. Judges uses the word again for Micah's ephod (17:5).

Good to know: "Played the prostitute" is zanah, which the dictionary gives as "to commit adultery ...; figuratively, to commit idolatry". In Judges this Bible says "prostitute" or a longer form in all 6 verses that use it, as in 2:17, "they prostituted themselves to other gods".

In plain English: So Midian was brought down (this Bible: subdued) before the Israelites, and they did not lift up their heads again. And the land had rest (or: was at peace) for forty years in the days of Gideon.

In plain English: Jerubbaal the son of Joash went home and lived in his own house.

In plain English: Gideon had seventy sons of his own (literally: who came out of his thigh), because he had many wives.

In plain English: His concubine who lived in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

Good to know: Abimelech, the son of Gideon's concubine in Shechem, is the main person of chapter 9, where he kills his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal (9:5).

In plain English: Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

In plain English: As soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned back and played the prostitute after the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god.

The Hebrew words: "Berith" is berit, the word this Bible gives as "covenant" or "covenants" in 254 of the 264 verses that use it, so the name can be read "Baal of the covenant". The dictionary gives the name as "a special deity of the Shechemites". It is named again only in 9:4, where Abimelech takes silver from "the house of Baal Berith" in Shechem.

Good to know: This is the end of the pattern the book sets out in 2:19: "when the judge was dead, they turned back".

In plain English: The Israelites did not remember Yahweh their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side.

In plain English: And they did not show loyal kindness (this Bible: kindness) to the household of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, for all the good he had done for Israel.