Judges 8:27

Judges 8:27 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
• New International Version (NIV)Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

Context of Judges 8:27

25The people replied, ‘We are happy to give them to you.’ So they put a coat on the ground. Each man threw a ring onto it. 26The weight of all the rings was 20 kilograms. They also had valuable silver images and jewels. They had valuable clothes that the kings of Midian wore and necklaces from the camels. Gideon used the gold to make an image of an ephod. He put it in Ophrah, where he lived. All the Israelites came there and they worshipped the image. It caused them to turn away from the true God. It became like a trap that caught Gideon and his family. 28The Israelites now had complete power over the Midianites. The Midianites were too ashamed to fight against them. While Gideon was alive, the land of Israel had peace for 40 years. 29Then Gideon went back home to live.

Judges 8:27 word by word

וַיַּעַשׂ֩ אוֹת֨וֹ גִדְע֜וֹן לְאֵפ֗וֹד וַיַּצֵּ֨ג אוֹת֤וֹ בְעִירוֹ֙ בְּעָפְרָ֔ה וַיִּזְנ֧וּ כָֽל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אַחֲרָ֖יו שָׁ֑ם וַיְהִ֛י לְגִדְע֥וֹן וּלְבֵית֖וֹ לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Gideonגִּדְעוֹןgid‛ôn · GideonH1439
• madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• an ephodאֵפוֹד'êphôd 'êphôd · ephodH646
• thereof, and putיָצַגyâtsag · to setH3322
• it in his cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• in Ophrahעׇפְרָה‛ophrâh · OphrahH6084
• and all Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• went thither a whoringזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
• afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• it: which thing became a snareמוֹקֵשׁmôqêsh môqêsh · snareH4170
• and to his houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004

Cross-references for Judges 8:27

• Judges 17:5Micah had a special room to worship his gods. He made an ephod and some more idols for it. He chose one of his sons to be a priest to serve his gods.
• Judges 18:14The five men who had explored the land of Laish said to their relatives, ‘Do you know that in one of these houses there is an ephod, some small idols, an image and a metal idol. Think carefully and decide what to do.’
• Exodus 28:6Use gold, blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen, to make the ephod. A worker should use special skills to make it so that it looks beautiful.
• 1 Samuel 23:9Somebody told David that Saul was preparing to attack him. David said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring the ephod here.’
• Isaiah 8:20When they say that to you, remember my teaching. Tell them what I have said will happen. People who talk like that are completely in the dark. There is no truth in what they say.
• Judges 8:32Joash's son Gideon died when he was very old. People buried him in the grave of his father, Joash. That was in Ophrah, on the land of Abiezer's clan.
• Judges 6:11The Lord's angel came to sit under a big oak tree in Ophrah. It belonged to Joash, from Abiezer's clan. When the angel arrived, Joash's son Gideon was threshing wheat. He was doing it in a winepress because he wanted to hide his food from the Midianites.
• Deuteronomy 12:5The Lord will choose one place from the land where all your tribes live. That is the place where people must go to worship him. That is his special home.
• Exodus 23:33Do not let them live in your land. They would cause you to do bad things against me. If you serve their gods, you will become like their prisoners.’
• Psalms 73:27Those people who stay far away from you will die. You destroy everybody who turns away from you.
• Psalms 106:39The things that the Lord's people did made them unclean. They were not faithful to the Lord, like a wife who is not faithful to her husband.
• Hosea 2:2My children, warn your mother! She is no longer my wife. I am not her husband. Tell her that she must stop living like a prostitute. She must stop having sex with other men instead of me.
• Hosea 4:12They ask wooden idols to tell them what to do! A stick tells them what will happen in the future! They have turned away from me and they have lost their way. They have not been faithful to me, their God, as a prostitute is not faithful to her husband.
• Judges 8:33Soon after Gideon died, the Israelites stopped being faithful to the Lord. They started to worship the idols of Baal again. They chose Baal-Berith to be their new god.
• Deuteronomy 7:16You must remove the people of every nation that the Lord your God will put under your power. Do not be kind to them. Do not worship their gods. If you do that, they will make you turn away from God.

Commentaries on Judges 8:27

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27Gideon made an ephod thereof - That is, he made an ephod out of this mass of gold; but he could not employ it all in making this one garment, for it is not likely that any man could wear a coat of nearly one hundred pounds weight. It is likely that he made a whole tabernacle service in miniature out of this gold. All Israel went thither a whoring after it - This form of speech often occurs, and has been often explained. The whole Jewish nation is…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27The ephod was that particular part of the high priest‘s dress which was necessary to be worst when he inquired of God by Urim and Thummim. It seems that Gideon being now the civil ruler, desired to have an ephod of his own, kept in his own city, to he worn by the priest whenever Gideon might summon him to inquire of the Lord for him. His relations with the tribe of Ephraim probably made him unwilling to resort to Shiloh. Compare the act of Jeroboam 1…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-28Verses 22-28 Gideon refused the government the people offered him. No good man can be pleased with any honour done to himself, which belongs only to God. Gideon thought to keep up the remembrance of this victory by an ephod, made of the choicest of the spoils. But probably this ephod had, as usual, a teraphim annexed to it, and Gideon intended this for an oracle to be consulted. Many are led into false ways by one false step of a good man. It became a…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27An ephod was usually part of the priest's clothing (Exodus 28:6–30). Samuel and David also wore one (1 Samuel 2:18; 2 Samuel 6:14; 1 Chronicles 15:27). However, in Judges 17:5 and 18:14–18, the ephod seems to have been a gold image, which became an idol.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2727. Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, ... Ophrah--That no idolatrous use was in view, nor any divisive course from Shiloh contemplated, is manifest from Jud 8:33. Gideon proposed, with the gold he received, to make an ephod for his use only as a civil magistrate or ruler, as David did (1Ch 15:27), and a magnificent pectoral or breastplate also. It would seem, from the history, that he was not blamable in making this ephod, as a civil…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 8:27

• Ephod
• Gideon
• Israel
• Ophrah
• Temptation

In the dictionaries

• Gideon
• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Ophrah
• Request
• Resemble
• Solomon
• Teraphim
• Zebah

Commentaries on Judges 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings