JDG 8

Judges 8:26

WEB

The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, in addition to the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and in addition to the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

BSB

The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.

KJV

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

Matthew Henry

Verses 22–28

Judges 8:22–28

Here is, I. Gideon's laudable modesty, after his great victory, in refusing the government which the people offered him. 1. It was honest in them to offer it: Rule thou over us, for thou hast delivered us, Jdg 8:22. They thought it very reasonable that he who had gone through the toils and perils of their deliverance should enjoy the honour and power of commanding them ever afterwards, and very desirable that he who in this great and critical juncture had had such manifest tokens of God's presence with him should ever afterwards preside in their affairs. Let us apply it to the Lord Jesus: he hath delivered us out of the hands of our enemies, our spiritual enemies, the worst and most dangerous, and therefore it is fit he should rule over us; for how can we be better ruled than by one that appears to have so great an interest in heaven and so great a kindness for this earth? We are delivered that we may serve him without fear, Luk 1:74, Luk 1:75. 2. It was honourable in him to refuse it: I will not rule over you, Jdg 8:23. What he did was with a design to serve them, not to rule them - to make them safe, easy, and happy, not to make himself great or honourable. And, as he was not ambitious of grandeur himself, so he did not covet to entail it upon his family: "My son shall not rule over you, either while I live or when I am gone, but the Lord shall still rule over you, and constitute your judges by the special designation of his own Spirit, as he has done." This intimates, (1.) His modesty, and the mean opinion he had of himself and his own merits. He thought the honour of doing good was recompence enough for all his services, which needed not to be rewarded with the honour of bearing sway. He that is greatest, let him be your minister. (2.) His piety, and the great opinion he had of God's government. Perhaps he discerned in the people a dislike of the theocracy, or divine government, a desire of a king like the nations, and thought they availed themselves of his merits as a colourable pretence to move for this change of government. But Gideon would by no means admit it. No good man can be pleased with any honour done to himself which ought to be peculiar to God. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? Co1 1:13.

II. Gideon's irregular zeal to perpetuate the remembrance of this victory by an ephod made of the choicest of the spoils. 1. He asked the men of Israel to give him the ear-rings of their prey; for such ornaments they stripped the slain of in abundance. These he demanded, either because they were the finest gold, and therefore fittest for a religious use, or because they had had as ear-rings some superstitious signification, which he thought too well of. Aaron called for the ear-rings to make the golden calf of, Exo 32:2. These Gideon begged Jdg 8:24. And he had reason enough to think that those who offered him a crown, when he declined it, would not deny him their ear-rings, when he begged them, nor did they, Jdg 8:25. 2. He himself added the spoil he took from the kings of Midian, which, it should seem, had fallen to his share, Jdg 8:26. The generals had that part of the prey which was most splendid, the prey of divers colours, Jdg 5:30. 3. Of this he made an ephod, Jdg 8:27. It was plausible enough, and might be well intended to preserve a memorial of so divine a victory in the judge's own city. But it was a very unadvised thing to make that memorial to be an ephod, a sacred garment. I would gladly put the best construction that can be upon the actions of good men, and such a one we are sure Gideon was. But we have reason to suspect that this ephod had, as usual, a teraphim annexed to it (Hos 3:4), and that, having an altar already built by divine appointment (Jdg 6:26), which he erroneously imagined he might still use for sacrifice, he intended this for an oracle, to be consulted in doubtful cases. So the learned Dr. Spencer supposes. Each tribe having now very much its government within itself, they were too apt to covet their religion among themselves. We read very little of Shiloh, and the ark there, in all the story of the Judges. Sometimes by divine dispensation, and much oftener by the transgression of men, that law which obliged them to worship only at that one altar seems not to have been so religiously observed as one would have expected, any more than afterwards, when in the reigns even of very good kings the high places were not taken away, from which we may infer that that law had a further reach as a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone all our services are accepted. Gideon therefore, through ignorance or inconsideration, sinned in making this ephod, though he had a good intention in it. Shiloh, it is true, was not far off, but it was in Ephraim, and that tribe had lately disobliged him (v. 1), which made him perhaps not care to go so often among them as his occasions would lead him to consult the oracle, and therefore he would have one nearer home. However this might be honestly intended, and at first did little hurt, yet in process of time, (1.) Israel went a whoring after it, that is, they deserted God's altar and priesthood, being fond of change, and prone to idolatry, and having some excuse for paying respect to this ephod, because so good a man as Gideon had set it up, and by degrees their respect to it grew more and more superstitious. Note, Many are led into false ways by one false step of a good man. The beginning of sin, particularly of idolatry and will-worship, is as the letting forth of water, so it has been found in the fatal corruptions of the church of Rome; therefore leave it off before it be meddled with. (2.) It became a snare to Gideon himself, abating his zeal for the house of God in his old age, and much more to his house, who were drawn by it into sin, and it proved the ruin of the family.

III. Gideon's happy agency for the repose of Israel, Jdg 8:28. The Midianites that had been so vexatious gave them no more disturbance. Gideon, though he would not assume the honour and power of a king, governed as a judge, and did all the good offices he could for his people; so that the country was in quietness forty years. Hitherto the times of Israel had been reckoned by forties. Othniel judged forty years, Ehud eighty - just two forties, Barak forty, and now Gideon forty, providence so ordering it to bring in mind the forty years of their wandering in the wilderness. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation. And see Eze 4:6. After these, Eli ruled forty years (Sa1 4:18), Samuel and Saul forty (Act 13:21), David forty, and Solomon forty. Forty years is about an age.

Cross-references: Judg 8:22 · Luke 1:74 · Luke 1:75 · Judg 8:23 · 1Cor 1:13 · Exod 32:2 · Judg 8:24 · Judg 8:25 · Judg 8:26 · Judg 5:30 · Judg 8:27 · Hos 3:4 · Judg 6:26 · Judg 8:28 · Ezek 4:6 · 1Sam 4:18 · Acts 13:21

Hebrew interlinear

H1961

הָיָהhâyâh/haw-yaw/

v — exist, be, become, come to pass

Derivation: a primitive root (compare 1933);

to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)

KJV: beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.

הָיָה

vb — fall out

הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be

Qal

I.

1.

a. Fall out, happen

b. occur, take place, come about, come to pass

2. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass

a.

(1). וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)

(2). rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה

b. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)

II. Come into being, become

1.

a. abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come

b. sq. prep.

2. become

a. sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)

b. sq. pred. adj.

c. become like

d. sq. pred. לְ pers.

e. sq. לְ pred.

f. oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.

g. with עַל and לְ

h. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of

III. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)

1. exist, be in existence

2. abide, remain, continue

3. with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie

4. as copula, joining subj. & pred.

5. periphrastic conjug.

Niph.

1. either be done, be brought about, or occur, come to pass

2. be done, finished, gone

H4948

מִשְׁקָלmishqâl/mish-kawl'/

n-m — weight, weighing

Derivation: from 8254;

weight (numerically estimated); hence, weighing (the act)

KJV: (full) weight.

מִשְׁקָל

n.m — weight

מִשְׁקָל 49 n.m. id. [מִשְׁקוֹל];—weight

H5141

נֶזֶםnezem/neh'-zem/

n-m — nose-ring

Derivation: from an unused root of uncertain meaning;

a nose-ring

KJV: earring, jewel.

נֶ֫זֶם

n.m — ring

נֶ֫זֶם n.m. ring, always of gold when material mentioned

H2091

זָהָבzâhâb/zaw-hawb'/

n-m — gold, something gold-colored, oil, clear sky

Derivation: from an unused root meaning to shimmer;

gold, figuratively, something gold-colored (i.e. yellow), as oil, a clear sky

KJV: gold(-en), fair weather.

זָהָב

n.m — gold

זָהָב 385 n.m. gold

1. = gold-ore, gold in raw state

2. gold as wealth

3. gold as spoil of war

4. gold as merchandise

5. gold as costly gift

6. gold as material

7. gold described by its source

8. gold defined by var. adj. and pts.

9. as measure of weight and value

10. = golden oil, from colour

11. often named with

12. the chief vbs. used

H834

אֲשֶׁרʼăsher/ash-er'/

r — who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

Derivation: a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number);

who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.

KJV: × after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.

אֲשֶׁר

part. of relation — who

אֲשֶׁר part. of relation A sign of relation, bringing the clause introduced by it into relation with an antecedent clause.

בַאֲשֶׁר

adv — in which

בַאֲשֶׁר

a. in (that) which

b. adv. in (the place) where

c. conj. in that, inasmuch as

d. on account of whom?

כַּאֲשֶׁר

conj — according as

כַּאֲשֶׁר conj. according as, as, when

1. according to that which, according as, as

2. with a causal force, in so far as, since

3. with a temporal force, when

מֵאֲשֶׁר

adv — who

מֵאֲשֶׁר

a. from (or than) that which

b. adv. from (the place) where

c. conj. from (the fact) that …, since

H7592

שָׁאַלshâʼal/shaw-al'/

v — inquire, request, demand

Derivation: or שָׁאֵל; a primitive root;

to inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand

KJV: ask (counsel, on), beg, borrow, lay to charge, consult, demand, desire, × earnestly, enquire, greet, obtain leave, lend, pray, request, require, salute, × straitly, × surely, wish.

שָׁאַל

vb — ask

שָׁאַל 170 vb. ask, inquire

Qal

1.

a. ask, ask for

b. specif. ask as a fovour, for temporary use, i.e. borrow

c. in weakened sense, seek, desire (late)

2.

a. inquire of

b. inquire of, consult, deity, oracle, etc.

c. in weakened sense, seek, desire (late)

Niph. ask for oneself

Pi.

1. inquire carefully

2. beg, practise beggary

Hiph. (prop. let one ask [successfully], give, or lend, on request, then) grant, make over to (as a favour, with or without request)

H505

אֶלֶףʼeleph/eh'-lef/

n-m — thousand

Derivation: prop, the same as 504;

hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousand

KJV: thousand.

אֶ֫לֶף

n.m — thousand

אֶ֫לֶף n.m. thousand

H7651

שֶׁבַעshebaʻ/sheh'-bah/

n — seven, full, seven times, week, indefinite

Derivation: or (masculine) (שִׁבְעָה); from 7650; a primitive cardinal number;

seven (as the sacred full one); also (adverbially) seven times; by implication, a week; by extension, an indefinite number

KJV: ( by) seven(-fold),-s, (-teen, -teenth), -th, times). Compare 7658.

שֶׁ֫בַע

n.m — seven

שֶׁ֫בַע, שִׁבְעָה 394 n.m. et f. seven

H3967

מֵאָהmêʼâh/may-aw'/

n-f — hundred

Derivation: or מֵאיָה; properly, a primitive numeral

a hundred; also as a multiplicative and a fraction

KJV: hundred((-fold), -th), sixscore.

מֵאָה

n.f — hundred

מֵאָה 583 n.f. hundred

1. as simple number

2. as part of larger number

3. a hundredth part

H905

בַּדbad/bad/

n-m — separation, part, branch, bar, chief, apart, only, besides

Derivation: from 909;

properly, separation; by implication, a part of the body, branch of a tree, bar for carrying; figuratively, chief of a city; especially (with prepositional prefix) as an adverb, apart, only, besides

KJV: alone, apart, bar, besides, branch, by self, of each alike, except, only, part, staff, strength.

בַּד

n.m — separation

בַּד, בָּ֑ד n.m. separation, concr. part

1. prop. in a state of separation, alone, by itself

2. concr. part

3. parts, specif. extended from something

H4480

מִןmin/min/

prep — part, from, out of

Derivation: or מִנִּי; or מִנֵּי; (constructive plural) (Isaiah 30:11); for 4482;

properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses

KJV: above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, × neither, × nor, (out) of, over, since, × then, through, × whether, with.

מִן־

prep — out of

מִן־, and מִ, before יְ, prep. expressing the idea of separation, hence out of, from, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not

1. with verbs expressing (or implying) separation or removal

a. from, against

b. מן also, without a verb of similar significance, sometimes expresses the idea of separation, away from, far from

c. of position, off, on the side of, on

2. Out of, Gk. ἐκ, Lat. ex

3. Partitively

4. Of time

a. as marking the terminus a quo, the anterior limit of a continuous period from, since

b. as marking the period immediately succeeding the limit after

c. towards, to

5. (וְעַד) עַדמִן from … even to

6. In comparisons, beyond, above

7. מן is prefixed to an infin.:

a. with causal force, from, on account of, through

b. after verbs implying restraint, prevention, cessation, etc.

c. with a temporal force, since, after

8. Once as a conj. before a finite verb. that

9. In compounds:

מֵן

n. [m.] — portion

[מֵן] n. [m.] portion

H7720

שַׂהֲרֹןsahărôn/sah-har-one'/

n-m — pendant

Derivation: from the same as 5469;

a round pendant for the neck

KJV: ornament, round tire like the moon.

שַׂהֲרוֹן

n.[m.] — moon

[שַׂהֲרוֹן] n.[m.] moon, or crescent

H5188

נְטִיפָהnᵉṭîyphâh/net-ee-faw'/

n-f — pendant

Derivation: from 5197;

a pendant for the ears (especially of pearls)

KJV: chain, collar.

נְטִיפָה

n.[f.] — drop

[נְטִיפָה ?] n.[f.] drop, i.e. pendant, an ornament

H899

בֶּגֶדbeged/behg'-ed/

n-m — covering, clothing, treachery, pillage

Derivation: from 898;

a covering, i.e. clothing; also treachery or pillage

KJV: apparel, cloth(-es, ing), garment, lap, rag, raiment, robe, × very (treacherously), vesture, wardrobe.

בֶּ֫גֶד

n.m — garment

בֶּ֫גֶד n.m. garment, covering

בֶּ֫גֶד

n.[m.] — treachery

בֶּ֫גֶד n.[m.] treachery Is 24:16 Je 12:1.

H713

אַרְגָּמָןʼargâmân/ar-gaw-mawn'/

n-m — purple

Derivation: of foreign origin;

purple (the color or the dyed stuff)

KJV: purple.

אַרְגָּמָן

n.[m.] — purple

אַרְגָּמָן n.[m.] purple, red-purple, i.e. purple thread & cloth

H5921

עַלʻal/al/

prep — above, over, upon, against

Derivation: properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following);

above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications

KJV: above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.

כִּי עַל כֵּן

forasmuch as

כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as

עַל

subst — above

עַל, עָ֑ל

I. subst. height

II. As prep. upon, and hence on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against

1. Upon, of the substratum upon which an object in any way rests, or on which an action is performed

a.

(a). of clothing, etc., which any one wears

(b). With verbs of covering or protecting, even though the cover or veil be not over or above the thing covered, but around or before it

b. Of what rests heavily upon a person, or is a burden to him

c. Of a duty, payment, care, etc., imposed upon a person, or devolving on him

d. על is used idiom. to give pathos to the expression of an emotion, by emphasizing the person who is its subject, and who, as it were, feels it acting upon him

e. חָיָה עַל to live upon (as upon a foundation or support)

f. Of the ground or basis, on which a thing is done

2. It expresses excess

3. It denotes elevation or pre-eminence

4. It expresses addition

5. It expresses the idea of being extended, or suspended over anything, without however being in contact with it, above, over

6. From the sense of inclining or impending over, על comes to denote contiguity or proximity, Engl. by (or sts. on)

7. In connection with verbs of motion (actual or fig.)

8. By writers of the silver age, על is sts. used with the force of a dative

9. With other particles:

III. As conj.

a. עַל אֲשֶׁר because that

b. עַל כִּי similar in meaning, but less frequent

c. עַל alone:

(a). because

(b). notwithstanding that, although

IV. Compounds:

1. with כְּ (rare and late)

a. as concerning, as upon

b. the like of their deeds is the like of (that which) he will repay

2. מֵעַל from upon, from over, from by

H4428

מֶלֶךְmelek/meh'-lek/

n-m — king

Derivation: from 4427;

a king

KJV: king, royal.

מֶ֫לֶךְ

n.m — king

מֶ֫לֶךְ 2513 n.m. king

H4080

מִדְיָןMidyân/mid-yawn'/

n-pr-m n-pr-loc — Midjan

Derivation: the same as 4079;

Midjan, a son of Abraham; also his country and (collectively) his descendants

KJV: Midian, Midianite.

מִדְיָן

n.pr.m — Midian

מִדְיָן n.pr.m.

1. son of Abraham and Keturah

2. an Arabian tribe

3. the land of Midian; land on Ælanitic gulf

H6060

עָנָקʻânâq/aw-nawk'/

n-m — necklace, strangling

Derivation: from 6059;

a necklace (as if strangling)

KJV: chain.

עֲנָק

n.m — necklace

עֲנָק n.m. necklace, neck-pendant

עֲנָק

n.[m.] — neck

עֲנָק n.[m.] neck, only in epith.gent. long-necked (tall) men, early giant people about Hebron and in Philistia

H6677

צַוָּארtsavvâʼr/tsav-vawr'/

n-m — neck, bound

Derivation: or צַוָּר; (Nehemiah 3:5), or צַוָּרֹן; (Song of Solomon 4:9), or (feminine) צַוָּארָה; (Micah 2:3), intensively from 6696 in the sense of binding;

the back of the neck (as that on which burdens are bound)

KJV: neck.

צַוָּאר

n.m — neck

צַוָּאר n.m. neck, back of neck

צַוָּרוֹן

n.[m.]pl — necklace

[צַוָּרוֹן] n.[m.]pl. necklace;—sf. Ct 4:9.

H1581

גָּמָלgâmâl/gaw-mawl'/

n — camel

Derivation: apparently from 1580 (in the sense of labor or burden-bearing);

a camel

KJV: camel.

גָּמָל

n.m — camel

גָּמָל n.m. camel

1. as property

2. as beasts of burden

3. for riding

4. forbidden as food

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