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13 Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass[a] of Heres. 14 He captured a young man from Sukkoth[b] and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Sukkoth’s officials and city leaders—seventy-seven men in all.[c] 15 He approached the men of Sukkoth and said, “Look what I have![d] 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?’”[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:13 tn Or “ascent.”
  2. Judges 8:14 tn Heb “from the men of Sukkoth.”
  3. Judges 8:14 tn Heb “wrote down for him the officials of Sukkoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.”
  4. Judges 8:15 tn Heb “Look!” The words “what I have” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  5. Judges 8:15 tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your exhausted men bread?” sn 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 Sukkoth.

13 Gideon son of Joash(A) then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.(B) 14 He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth,(C) the elders(D) of the town. 15 Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?(E)’”

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