The Meaning of Judges 8:27 Explained

Judges 8:27

KJV: And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

YLT: and Gideon maketh it into an ephod, and setteth it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go a-whoring after it there, and it is to Gideon and to his house for a snare.

Darby: And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.

ASV: And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Gideon  made  an ephod  thereof, and put  it in his city,  [even] in Ophrah:  and all Israel  went thither a whoring  after  it: which thing became a snare  unto Gideon,  and to his house. 

What does Judges 8:27 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 8:27 mean?

And made it Gideon into an ephod and set up in his city Ophrah and played the harlot all Israel with it there and it became to Gideon and to his house a snare
וַיַּעַשׂ֩ אוֹת֨וֹ גִדְע֜וֹן לְאֵפ֗וֹד וַיַּצֵּ֨ג בְעִירוֹ֙ בְּעָפְרָ֔ה וַיִּזְנ֧וּ כָֽל־ יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אַחֲרָ֖יו שָׁ֑ם וַיְהִ֛י לְגִדְע֥וֹן וּלְבֵית֖וֹ לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ

וַיַּעַשׂ֩  And  made 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
גִדְע֜וֹן  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.
לְאֵפ֗וֹד  into  an  ephod 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֵפֹד  
Sense: ephod.
וַיַּצֵּ֨ג  and  set  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָצַג  
Sense: to place, set, establish.
בְעִירוֹ֙  in  his  city 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
בְּעָפְרָ֔ה  Ophrah 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: עָפְרָה 
Sense: a Judaite, son of Meonothai.
וַיִּזְנ֧וּ  and  played  the  harlot 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: זָנָה 
Sense: to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
אַחֲרָ֖יו  with  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
וַיְהִ֛י  and  it  became 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לְגִדְע֥וֹן  to  Gideon 
Parse: Preposition-l, 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.
וּלְבֵית֖וֹ  and  to  his  house 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ  a  snare 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֹוקֵשׁ  
Sense: bait, lure, snare.