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Jdg Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Jdg 8 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
(All still tentative.)
OEB No OEB JDG book available
Moff No Moff JDG book available
KJB-1611 1 Gideon pacifieth the Ephraimites. 4 Succoth and Penuel refuse to relieue Gideons army. 10 Zebah and Zalmunna are taken. 13 Succoth and Penuel are destroyed. 17 Gideon reuengeth his brethrens death on Zebah and Zalmunna. 22 Hee refuseth gouernment. 24 His Ephod cause of Idolatry. 28 Midian subdued. 29 Gideons children, and death. 33 The Israelites idolatry, and ingratitude.
(1 Gideon pacifieth the Ephraimites. 4 Succoth and Penuel refuse to relieue Gideons army. 10 Zebah and Zalmunna are taken. 13 Succoth and Penuel are destroyed. 17 Gideon revengeth his brethren/brotherss death on Zebah and Zalmunna. 22 He refuseth gouernment. 24 His Ephod cause of Idolatry. 28 Midian subdued. 29 Gideons children, and death. 33 The Israelites idolatry, and ingratitude.)
The account of Gideon concludes in this chapter.
Ancient cities and towns often built protective towers. Their citizens could go inside them for safety, and from the top of them their soldiers had an advantage in fighting attacking armies. The leaders of Penuel probably thought that they were safe from the Midianites because they had such a tower. Gideon told them that he was going to tear down their tower to show that they should have taken his side in the fight against the Midianites.
It seems difficult to understand why, when Gideon returned to Penuel (8:17), he “killed the men of the city.” He had only said he would tear down their tower, just as he had only told the leaders of Succoth that he would whip them with thorny branches, and that was all he did to them. Here is one possible explanation. In 8:16, the author uses the phrase “the men of Succoth” to mean the same thing as “the elders of the city.” So the phrase “the men of the city” in 8:17 may refer to the town leaders of Penuel. The author may be saying that when Gideon tore down the tower, this killed the town leaders. That may have happened because those leaders took refuge in the tower, thinking they would be safe from Gideon there because he would not be able to tear down the tower or that he would not tear it down if they were in it. A note to 8:17 suggests an alternate translation that suggests this meaning.
In 8:20, Gideon tells his son Jether, who was still a young man, to kill the Midianite kings Zeba and Zalmunna. This was in some way a symbolic action, but interpreters are not entirely sure of what kind. Here are some possibilities: (1) Gideon could have been intending to give an honor to his son. Gideon had already appeased the Ephraimites by telling them what an honor it had been for them to kill Oreb and Zeeb (8:3), and he may have wanted his firstborn son to have a similar honor. If that is the significance of this action, in your translation you might have Gideon say to Jether, “I will give you the honor of killing these kings.” (2) Gideon could have been intending to dishonor Zeba and Zalmunna. They had apparently killed Gideon’s brothers by murder rather than in battle, and so Gideon did not consider them worthy of being killed by a person of status, such as himself. (In this culture, it was customary for someone to be executed by a person of equal status; see, for example, 1 Kings 2:29.) If that is the significance, you might have Gideon say to Jether, “I am going to have you, a youth, kill them.” (3) Gideon could have wanted to emphasize to Jether that he needed to be prepared to fight against the oppressors of Yahweh’s people, just as he had. In that case, you might have Gideon say, “Kill these enemy kings, as you must be prepared to fight to free Yahweh’s people from oppression.”