Judges 8
8
Zebah and Zalmunna
1#2Sa 19:41Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What have you done to us by not calling us to go and wage war against Midian?” They argued heatedly with him.
2He said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Are not the gleanings of the grapes of Ephraim better than the harvest of Abiezer? 3#Pr 15:1; Jdg 7:24–25It was into your hands that God gave the Midianite commanders, Oreb and Zeeb. What was I able to do compared to you?” When Gideon said this, their anger against him cooled down.
4Then Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted but still pursuing. 5#Ge 33:17; Ps 60:6He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
6#1Ki 20:11The officials of Sukkoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”
7So Gideon said, “Because of this, when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will tear your bodies with desert thorns and briers.”
8#Ge 32:30–31; 1Ki 12:25He went up from there to Peniel and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Peniel answered him just as the men of Sukkoth had. 9#Jdg 8:17; 1Ki 22:27–28So he also said to the men of Peniel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower.”
10#Jdg 7:12; 20:2Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand survivors; they were all who were left of all the army of the Kedemites, for one hundred twenty thousand arms-bearing men had fallen. 11#Nu 32:35; 32:42Gideon went up on the route of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the camp while the army was off guard. 12#Ps 83:11Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and Gideon chased after them. He captured Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, and the entire army was terrified.
13Gideon son of Joash returned from battle by the Pass of Heres. 14He captured a young man from among the men of Sukkoth and asked him to write the names of the leaders and elders of Sukkoth, seventy-seven men. 15Then he came to the men of Sukkoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me. You said, ‘Have you subjugated Zebah and Zalmunna that we should give bread to your weary army?’ ” 16#Jdg 8:7He took the city elders and disciplined the men of Sukkoth with thorns and briers of the wilderness. 17#Jdg 8:9; 1Ki 12:25He tore down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the city.
18#Jdg 4:6Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”
They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like the son of a king.”
19He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had allowed them to live, I would not kill you.” 20Gideon said to his firstborn Jether, “Rise and kill them!” Yet the young man did not draw his sword because he was afraid, for he was still a young man.
21#Jdg 8:26; Ps 83:11Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You get up and attack us, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and took the crescent-shaped ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
Gideon’s Ephod
22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you, and your son, and your grandson, for you have saved us from the hands of Midian.”
23#1Sa 10:19; 12:12Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 24#Ge 25:13; 37:25Gideon continued, “I have a request to make of you, that each man would give me an earring from his spoils.” (Their enemy had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)
25They said, “We will certainly give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and each man threw a ring of his spoils there. 26The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was seventeen hundred gold shekels.#About 43 pounds, or 20 kilograms. This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, and purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian, as well as the chains hanging on the necks of their camels. 27#Jdg 17:5; 18:14Gideon used these things to make an ephod. He put it in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
28#Jdg 5:31; 3:11The Midianites were humbled before the children of Israel and did not lift their heads high again. The land had peace for forty years in the days of Gideon.
The Death of Gideon
29#Jdg 6:32; 7:1Jerub-Baal son of Joash went to his house and lived there. 30#Jdg 9:2; 9:5Gideon had seventy sons, for he had many wives. 31His concubine who lived in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelek. 32#Ge 25:8; 15:15Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and he was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33#Jdg 9:4; 9:46After Gideon died, the children of Israel turned again to prostitute themselves with the Baals. They made Baal-Berith their god. 34#Ps 78:11; 78:42The children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of their enemies around them, 35and they did not keep faith with the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon), for all the good he had done for Israel.
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Judges 8: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Judges 8
8
1And the men of Ephraim said to him, What is this thing thou hast done to us, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with Midian? And they disputed with him sharply. 2And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer? 3Into your hands hath God#GodHebrew: Elohim delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their spirit was appeased toward him, when he said that word.
4And Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing. 5And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people that follow me, for they are faint; and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. 6And the chief men of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in thy hand, that we should give bread to thine army? 7And Gideon said, Therefore when Jehovah delivers Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with thorns of the wilderness and with briars. 8And he went up thence to Penuel, and spoke to them in like manner. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. 10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camp with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the whole camp of the children of the east; for there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. 11And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the camp; for the camp was at its ease. 12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them, and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the camp. 13And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle, from the ascent of Heres. 14And he caught a youth of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him; and he wrote down for him the chief men of Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men. 15And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy men that are weary? 16And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
18Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, What sort of men were they that ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the sons of a king. 19And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As Jehovah liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. 20And he said to Jether his firstborn, Arise, slay them! But the youth drew not his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. 21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall on us; for as is the man, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the moons that were on their camels' necks.
22And the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also; for thou hast saved us from the hand of Midian. 23And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah will rule over you. 24And Gideon said to them, I would desire a request of you: give me every man the earrings of his booty; for they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites. 25And they said, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and cast therein every man the earrings of his booty. 26And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the moons, and eardrops, and the purple garments that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks. 27And Gideon made an ephod of them, and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel went thither a whoring after it; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house. 28And Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
29And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his house. 30Now Gideon had seventy sons who had come out of his loins, for he had many wives. 31And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he gave him the name of Abimelech. 32And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites. 33And it came to pass when Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after the Baals, and set up Baal-Berith as their god. 34And the children of Israel remembered not Jehovah their God#GodHebrew: Elohim who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side. 35And they shewed no kindness to the house of Jerubbaal-Gideon, according to all the good that he had done to Israel.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.