^8:5He said to the men of Succoth, “Give⁷ some loaves of bread to the men⁸ who are following me,⁹ because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ^8:6The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give¹⁰ bread to your army?”¹¹^8:7Gideon said, “Since you will not help,¹² after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh¹³ your skin¹⁴ with¹⁵ desert thorns and briers.” ^8:8He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request.¹⁶ The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had.¹⁷^8:9He also threatened¹⁸ the men of Penuel, warning,¹⁹ “When I return victoriously,²⁰ I will tear down this tower.”

^8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed.²¹^8:11Gideon went up the road of the nomads²² east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army.²³^8:12When Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, Gideon²⁴ chased them and captured the two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. He had surprised²⁵ their entire army.

^8:13Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass²⁶ of Heres. ^8:14He captured a young man from Succoth²⁷ and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth’s officials and city leaders—seventy-seven men in all.²⁸^8:15He approached the men of Succoth and said, “Look what I have!²⁹ Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’ ”³⁰^8:16He seized the leaders³¹ of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then “threshed” the men of Succoth with them.³²^8:17He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city’s men.

^8:18He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me³³ the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.”³⁴^8:19He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear,³⁵ as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ^8:20He ordered Jether his firstborn son, “Come on!³⁶ Kill them!” But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword,³⁷ because he was still young. ^8:21Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon,³⁸ “Come on,³⁹ you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.”⁴⁰ So Gideon killed⁴¹ Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.

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Footnotes

7 Or perhaps, “sell.”
8 Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because these were warriors and in ancient Israelite culture would have been exclusively males.
9 Heb “who are at my feet.”
10 Or perhaps, “sell.”
11 Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [], ). The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon’s forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.
12 Heb “Therefore.”
13 I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63–65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.
14 Or “flesh.”
15 This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229–30.
16 Heb “and spoke to them in the same way.”
17 Heb “The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.”
18 Heb “said to.” The translation “threatened” is interpretive, but is clearly indicated by the context.
19 Heb “saying.”
20 Or “safely.” Heb “in peace.”
21 Heb “About fifteen thousand [in number] were all the ones remaining from the army of the sons of the east. The fallen ones were a hundred and twenty thousand [in number], men drawing the sword.”
22 Heb “the ones living in tents.”
23 Heb “and attacked the army, while the army was secure.” The Hebrew term בֶטַח (vetakh, “secure”) probably means the army was undefended (see R. G. Boling, Judges [], ), not suspecting an attack at that time and place.
24 Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 Or “routed”; Heb “caused to panic.”
26 Or “ascent.”
27 Heb “from the men of Succoth.”
28 Heb “wrote down for him the officials of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.”
29 Heb “Look!” The words “what I have” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
30 Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your exhausted men bread?” Gideon changes their actual statement (see v. 6) by saying exhausted men rather than “army.” In this way he emphasizes the crisis his men were facing and highlights the insensitivity of the men of Succoth.
31 Heb “elders.”
32 The translation follows the reading of several ancient versions (, the , and ) in assuming the form וַיָּדָשׁ (vayyadash) from the verb דּוֹשׁ (dosh, “thresh”) as in v. 7. The reads instead the form וַיֹּדַע (vayyoda’, “make known”), a Hiphil form of יָדַע (yadah). In this case one could translate, “he used them [i.e., the thorns and briers] to teach the men of Succoth a lesson.”
33 Heb “Where are?”
34 Heb “each one like the appearance of sons of the king.”
35 The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
36 Or “Arise!”
37 Heb “did not draw his sword for he was afraid.”
38 The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
39 Or “Arise.”
40 Heb “for as the man is his strength.”
41 Heb “arose and killed.”