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Judges 8:26-28
New English Translation
Judges 8:26-28
New English Translation
26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to 1,700 gold shekels.[a] This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry,[b] purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels.[c] 27 Gideon used all this to make[d] an ephod,[e] which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites[f] prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it[g] there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
Gideon’s Story Ends
28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken.[h] The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time.[i]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 8:26 sn 1,700 gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.
- Judges 8:26 tn Or “pendants.”
- Judges 8:26 tn Heb “the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.”
- Judges 8:27 tn Heb “made it into.”
- Judges 8:27 sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.
- Judges 8:27 tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).
- Judges 8:27 tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 8:28 tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”
- Judges 8:28 tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”
New English Translation (NET)
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