World English Bible · The judges
Judges 8
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
The men of said to him, "Why have you treated us this way, that you didn't call us when you went to fight with ?" They rebuked him sharply. He said to them, "What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn't the of the grapes of better than the vintage of Abiezer? has into your hand the princes of , and ! What was I able to do in comparison with you?" Then their was abated toward him when he had said that. came to and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. He said to the men of , "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after and , the kings of ." The princes of said, "Are the hands of and now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?" said, "Therefore when has and into my hand, then I will tear your with the of and with ." He went up there to , and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of answered him as the men of had answered. He spoke also to the men of , saying, "When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower." Now and were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew . went up by of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army; for the army felt secure. and fled and he pursued them. He took the two kings of , and , and confused . 13 the son of returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. He caught a young man of the men of , and inquired of him; and he described for him the princes of , and its , seventy-seven men. He came to the men of , and said, "See and , concerning whom you taunted me, saying, 'Are the hands of and now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?'" He took the , and of and , and with them he taught the men of . He broke down the tower of , and killed the men of the city. Then he said to and , "What kind of men were they whom you killed at ?" They answered, "They were like you. They all resembled the children of a king." 19He said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As lives, if you had them alive, I would not kill you." He said to his , "Get up and kill them!" But the youth didn't draw his ; for he was afraid, because he was yet a youth. Then and said, "You rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength." arose, and killed and , and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks. Then the men of Israel said to , " us, both you, your son, and your son's son also; for you have us out of the hand of ." said to them, "I will not you, neither shall my son you. shall you." said to them, "I do have a request: that you would each give me the earrings of his plunder." (For they had golden earrings, because they were .) 25They answered, "We will willingly give them." They spread a garment, and every man threw the earrings of his plunder into it. The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred of gold, in addition to the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of , and in addition to the chains that were about their camels' necks. made an out of it, and put it in , his city. Then all Israel with it there; and it became a snare to and to his house. So was subdued before the , and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of . the son of went and lived in his own house. had seventy sons conceived from his body, for he had many wives. who was in also bore him a son, and he named him . the son of in a good old age, and was buried in the of his , in of the Abiezrites. As soon as was , the turned again and following , and made Berith their . The didn't remember their , who had them out of the hand of all their on every side; neither did they show kindness to the house of , that is, , according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.