The Meaning of Judges 8:24 Explained

Judges 8:24

KJV: And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

YLT: And Gideon saith unto them, 'Let me ask of you a petition, and give ye to me each the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they are Ishmaelites.'

Darby: And Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you; give me every man of you the earrings of his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ish'maelites.)

ASV: And Gideon said unto them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Gideon  said  unto them, I would desire  a request  of you, that ye would give  me every man  the earrings  of his prey.  (For they had golden  earrings,  because they [were] Ishmaelites.  ) 

What does Judges 8:24 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 8:13-28 - The Snare Of Success
Clearly Gideon's family had passed through some terrible tragedy previous to this war of emancipation. He had not learned our Lord's teaching of forgiveness and acted on the usual maxims of his age. Possibly, also, he felt that he was the executioner of God's vengeance upon these chiefs, whose names, "Immolation" and "Trouble," were derived from their desperate deeds. As they stood anticipating death, they uttered a memorable sentence, "As the man is, so is his strength." The usefulness of our lives is not to be gauged by what we say or have or think, but by what we are. It is not gift but grace that leaves the deepest dint upon other lives. If you want to be strong in the arm, you must be pure and true at heart.
The gold and purple of the spoil enabled Gideon to make an ephod, presumably on the pattern of that described in Exodus 28:1-43. It was not exactly an idol but a kind of fetish, and it diverted the thoughts of the people from Shiloh and the spiritual worship of the unseen and eternal God. So apt is the human heart to cling to some outward emblem-it may be a crucifix, a wafer, or a church-and miss that worship in spirit and in truth for which the Father seeks. [source]

Chapter Summary: Judges 8

1  Gideon pacifies the Ephraimites
4  Succoth and Penuel refuse to deliver Gideon's army
10  Zebah and Zalmunna are taken
13  Succoth and Penuel are destroyed
17  Gideon revenges his brothers's death on Zebah and Zalmunna
22  He refuses government
24  His ephod the cause of idolatry
28  Midian subdued
29  Gideon's children, and death
33  The Israelites' idolatry and ingratitude

What do the individual words in Judges 8:24 mean?

And said to them Gideon I would like to make of you a request that would give me each of you the earrings from his plunder For earrings gold they had because Ishmaelites they [were]
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֜ם גִּדְע֗וֹן אֶשְׁאֲלָ֤ה מִכֶּם֙ שְׁאֵלָ֔ה וּתְנוּ־ לִ֕י אִ֖ישׁ נֶ֣זֶם שְׁלָל֑וֹ כִּֽי־ נִזְמֵ֤י זָהָב֙ לָהֶ֔ם כִּ֥י יִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֖ים הֵֽם

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר  And  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֲלֵהֶ֜ם  to  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
גִּדְע֗וֹן  Gideon 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: גִּדְעֹון  
Sense: youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, fifth judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites.
אֶשְׁאֲלָ֤ה  I  would  like  to  make 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: שָׁאַל 
Sense: to ask, enquire, borrow, beg.
מִכֶּם֙  of  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
שְׁאֵלָ֔ה  a  request 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שְׁאֵלָה  
Sense: request, thing asked for, demand.
וּתְנוּ־  that  would  give 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
לִ֕י  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
אִ֖ישׁ  each  of  you 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
נֶ֣זֶם  the  earrings  from 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נֶזֶם  
Sense: ring, nose ring, earring.
שְׁלָל֑וֹ  his  plunder 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלָל  
Sense: prey, plunder, spoil, booty.
נִזְמֵ֤י  earrings 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: נֶזֶם  
Sense: ring, nose ring, earring.
זָהָב֙  gold 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: זָהָב  
Sense: gold.
לָהֶ֔ם  they  had 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
כִּ֥י  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
יִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֖ים  Ishmaelites 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine plural
Root: יִשְׁמְעֵאלִי  
Sense: a descendant of Ishmael.
הֵֽם  they  [were] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.