8:1 Then the men of Ephraim said to ①Gideon, “What is this thing that you have done to us, not calling upon us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they quarreled with him vehemently.
▷ ①Lit him
8:2 But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim not better than the vintage of Abiezer?
8:3 God has handed over to you the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ①anger toward him subsided when he said ②that.
▷ ①Lit spirit ②Lit this thing
8:4 Then Gideon and the three hundred men who were with him came to the Jordan and crossed over, exhausted yet still pursuing.
8:5 And he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are ①following me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
▷ ①Lit at my feet
8:6 But the leaders of Succoth said, “ ①Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
▷ ①Lit Is the palm of...; i.e., are you so sure of victory that
8:7 So Gideon said, “For this answer, when the LORD has handed over to me Zebah and Zalmunna, I will ①thrash your ②bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”
▷ ①Or trample ②Lit flesh
8:8 Then he went up from there to ①Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.
▷ ①In Gen 32:30, Peniel
8:9 So he said also to the men of ①Penuel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower.”
▷ ①Lit Penuel, saying,
8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their ①armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of the entire ②army of the ③people of the east; for the fallen were 120,000 ④swordsmen.
▷ ①Or camps ②Or camp ③Lit sons ④Lit men who drew the sword
8:11 Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he ①attacked the camp when the camp was unsuspecting.
▷ ①Lit struck
8:12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the entire ①army.
▷ ①Or camp
8:13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle ①by the ascent of Heres.
▷ ①Or from
8:14 And he captured a youth from ①Succoth and questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
▷ ①Lit the men of
8:15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘ ①Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’ ”
▷ ①Lit Is the palm of...; i.e., are you so sure of victory
8:16 Then he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he ①disciplined the men of Succoth with them.
▷ ①Lit taught
8:17 And he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
8:18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where were the men whom you killed at Tabor?” But they said, “You and they were alike, each one ①resembling the son of a king.”
▷ ①Lit like the form of the sons
8:19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
8:20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.
8:21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and attack us; for as the man, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent amulets which were on their camels’ necks.
8:22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, your son’s son as well, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian!”
8:23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.”
8:24 Yet Gideon said to them, “I would ①request of you, that each of you give me ②an earring from his plunder.” (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
▷ ①Lit request a request ②Or a nose ring
8:25 And they said, “We will certainly give them to you.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them tossed an earring there from his plunder.
8:26 The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, apart from the crescent amulets, the ear pendants, and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the neck chains that were on their camels’ necks.
8:27 Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah; but all Israel ①committed infidelity with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
▷ ①I.e., against God
8:28 So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.
8:29 Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
8:30 Now Gideon had seventy sons who ①were his direct descendants, for he had many wives.
▷ ①Lit came from his loins
8:31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he ①named him Abimelech.
▷ ①Lit appointed his name
8:32 And 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.
8:33 Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again ①committed infidelity with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.
▷ ①I.e., against God
8:34 So the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had saved them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
8:35 nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accordance with all the good that he had done for Israel.