Judges 8:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.

NIV: 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, the elders of the town.

NASB: And he captured a youth from Succoth and questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

CSB: He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.

NLT: There he captured a young man from Succoth and demanded that he write down the names of all the seventy-seven officials and elders in the town.

KJV: And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.

NKJV: And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

Gideon's war against the Midianites is over. By God's power (Judges 6:14), he and Israel have won (Judges 8:10–12). He is returning, victorious, to his people (Judges 8:12).

Success has not made Gideon forget the betrayal of his own countrymen. Two Israelite towns refused to help him and his men in their time of need. While chasing down the enemy, Gideon's exhausted company came to the people of Succoth and asked for bread. The leaders of Succoth refused, apparently out of fear of what the Midianites would do to them if they helped Gideon and he was defeated. The same happened in Penuel (Judges 8:4–9). Gideon promised to return after his victory and pay back the towns for their lack of loyalty to Israel.

Gideon's return approach followed a different path than the one he took to pursue Midian's army (Judges 8:13). He has gone around Penuel and come back to Succoth first. This surprise visit makes it more likely he can punish the guilty without them escaping. On arriving in the area, he takes captive a young man. This man may have been a young official of some sort there. He could apparently write, meaning that he had some education. Gideon forces him to list all the elders and officials of the town. Gideon wants to know exactly who he is looking for. He holds these 77 men responsible for the decision not to provide aid to God's deliverer over the enemies of Israel.

Judges 8:1–21 begins with a confrontation between Gideon and the men of Ephraim. Gideon defuses the situation with diplomacy. With his original 300 fighters, he chases down the remnant of the Midianite army led by two kings known as Zebah and Zalmunna. Once the Midianites are defeated and the kings are captured, Gideon punishes the men of two Israelite towns who refused to help him. He then reveals to the captured kings that they murdered his own brothers at Mount Tabor. He kills them and takes their distinctive jewelry as spoils of war.

Gideon soothes the anger of the men of Ephraim. Then, with his 300 fighting men, he chases the remnant of the Midianite army. After a difficult pursuit, he finally catches and defeats them in the wilderness. Gideon then returns to two Israelite towns who refused to help him along the way. He flogs the leaders of one town and kills the men of the other. He then executes the captured enemy kings. Gideon collects tribute from Israel but declines to become their official king. He lives to gain seventy sons, many wives, and at least one Canaanite concubine. When Gideon dies, Israel immediately returns to idol worship.

Judges 8 follows the great victory described at the end of the previous chapter. This passage begins with Gideon awkwardly soothing the anger of Ephraimites while trying to chase down an escaping enemy. After capturing the Midianite kings, Gideon punishes two towns for failing to aid their fellow Israelites. Gideon refuses to become a literal king but collects tribute from the people and lives like a king all his days, with many wives and sons. The people return to idol worship after his death. Soon after, the concubine's son, Abimelech, murders Gideon's other sons and briefly rules before meeting a gruesome death.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).