God’s Word Translation
Judges 8:33
33As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel chased after other gods—the Baals—as though they were prostitutes. They made Baal Berith their god.
Judges 8:33 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal–berith their god.
- New International Version (NIV)No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god
- English Standard Version (ESV)As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god.
Context of Judges 8:33
31His concubine at Shechem also gave birth to a son. That son was named Abimelech. 32Gideon, son of Joash, died at a very old age. He was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah, the city belonging to Abiezer’s family. As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel chased after other gods—the Baals—as though they were prostitutes. They made Baal Berith their god. 34The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all the enemies around them. 35And they were not kind to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) despite all the good he had done for Israel.
Read all of Judges 8Judges 8:33 word by word
וַיְהִ֗י כַּֽאֲשֶׁר֙ מֵ֣ת גִּדְע֔וֹן וַיָּשׁ֙וּבוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיִּזְנ֖וּ אַחֲרֵ֣י הַבְּעָלִ֑ים וַיָּשִׂ֧ימוּ לָהֶ֛ם בַּ֥עַל בְּרִ֖ית לֵאלֹהִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And it came to pass, as soon as Gideonגִּדְעוֹןgid‛ôn · GideonH1439
- was deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
- that the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- turned againשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
- and went a whoringזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
- afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- Baalimבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
- and madeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- Baal–berithבַּעַל בְּרִיתba‛al berîyth · Baal-berithH1170
- their godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
Cross-references for Judges 8:33
- Judges 2:7The people served the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who had outlived him and who had seen all the spectacular works the Lord had done for Israel.
- Joshua 24:31Israel served the Lord as long as Joshua and the older leaders, who outlived him and who knew everything the Lord had done for Israel, were alive.
- 2 Kings 12:2Joash did what the Lord considered right, as long as the priest Jehoiada instructed him.
- 2 Chronicles 24:17After he died, the officials of Judah bowed in front of the king with their faces touching the ground. Then the king listened to their advice.
- Judges 8:27Then Gideon used the gold to make an idol and placed it in his hometown, Ophrah. All Israel chased after it there as though it were a prostitute. It became a trap for Gideon and his family.
- Judges 2:17But the people wouldn’t listen to the judges. The Israelites chased after other gods as though they were prostitutes and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors who had obeyed the Lord’s commands. They refused to be like their ancestors.
- Exodus 34:15Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in that land. When they chase after their gods as though they were prostitutes and sacrifice to them, they may invite you to eat the meat from their sacrifices with them.
- Jeremiah 3:9Because she wasn’t concerned about acting like a prostitute, she polluted the land and committed adultery with standing stones and wood pillars.
- Judges 9:4So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal Berith. With the silver, Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men to follow him.
Commentaries on Judges 8:33
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 33A whoring after Baalim - This term has probably a different meaning here from what it has Judges 8:7; for it is very likely that in most parts of the pagan worship there were many impure rites, so that going a whoring after Baalim may be taken in a literal sense. Baal-berith - Literally, the lord of the covenant; the same as Jupiter faederis, or Mercury, among the Romans; the deity whose business it was to preside over compacts, leagues, treaties…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 33Turned again - Doubtless Gideon himself had no doubt prepared the way for this apostacy by his unauthorized ephod. The Law of Moses, with its strict unity of priesthood and altar, was the divinely-appointed and only effectual preservative from idolatry. Baal-bereth - The god of covenants or sworn treaties, corresponding to the Zeus Orkius of the Greeks. The center of this fresh apostacy was at Shechem.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 29-35Verses 29-35 As soon as Gideon was dead, who kept the people to the worship of the God of Israel, they found themselves under no restraint; then they went after Baalim, and showed no kindness to the family of Gideon. No wonder if those who forget their God, forget their friends. Yet conscious of our own ingratitude to the Lord, and observing that of mankind in general, we should learn to be patient under any unkind returns we meet with for our poor…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 33-35Gideon's ephod (Judges 8:27) quickly became part of a pagan shrine honoring images of the Canaanite god Baal, here called Baal-berith ("Baal of the covenant"). This sinful act involved forgetting the Lord and his works and being disloyal to godly leadership. Remembering is essential to biblical, covenantal worship, from the time of the exodus (Exodus 12:14, 24) to the ongoing Christian celebration of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:25). kindness: See…Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 8:33
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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