New English Translation
Judges 8:33
33After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. 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, who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 32Gideon son of Joash died at a very old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith their god. 34The Israelites did not remain true to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them. 35They did not treat the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for 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 worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
- Joshua 24:31Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel.
- 2 Kings 12:2Throughout his lifetime Jehoash did what the Lord approved, just as Jehoiada the priest taught him.
- 2 Chronicles 24:17After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah visited the king and declared their loyalty to him. The king listened to their advice.
- Judges 8:27Gideon used all this to make an ephod, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
- Judges 2:17But they did not obey their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned aside from the path their ancestors had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not.
- Exodus 34:15Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice;
- Jeremiah 3:9Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.
- Judges 9:4They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous men as his followers.
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
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