Iudicum 8
1 dixeruntque ad eum viri Ephraim quid est hoc quod facere voluisti ut non nos vocares cum ad pugnam pergeres contra Madian iurgantes fortiter et prope vim inferentes
Then the descendants of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you acted toward us like this? When you went out to fight against the people of Midian, why did you not summon us [to help you]?” They rebuked Gideon severely.
2 quibus ille respondit quid enim tale facere potui quale vos fecistis nonne melior est racemus Ephraim vindemiis Abiezer
But Gideon replied, “I have done [RHQ] very little compared with what you have done! My small clan of descendants of Abiezer only started the battle, but [your very large group of] descendants of Ephraim [helped me to finish the task very well. It is like] the final grapes of the harvest being much better than the first grapes that are picked.
3 in manus vestras tradidit Dominus principes Madian Oreb et Zeb quid tale facere potui quale vos fecistis quod cum locutus esset requievit spiritus eorum quo tumebant contra eum
God enabled you to defeat Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army from Midian. That is [RHQ] much more important than what I did!” After Gideon told them that, they no longer resented what he had done.
4 cumque venisset Gedeon ad Iordanem transivit eum cum trecentis viris qui secum erant et prae lassitudine fugientes persequi non poterant
Then Gideon and his 300 men [went east and] crossed the Jordan [River]. Although they were very tired, they continued to pursue their enemies.
5 dixitque ad viros Soccoth date obsecro panes populo qui mecum est quia valde defecerunt ut possimus persequi Zebee et Salmana reges Madian
When they arrived at Succoth [town], Gideon said to the town leaders, “Please give my men some food! They are very tired. We are pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 responderunt principes Soccoth forsitan palmae manuum Zebee et Salmana in manu tua sunt et idcirco postulas ut demus exercitui tuo panes
But the leaders of Succoth replied, “You have not caught [RHQ] Zebah and Zalmunna yet. So why should we give food to your troops [now? Catch them first, and then we will give you food].”
7 quibus ille ait cum ergo tradiderit Dominus Zebee et Salmana in manus meas conteram carnes vestras cum spinis tribulisque deserti
Gideon replied, “[Because you said that], after Yahweh enables us to defeat Zebah and Zalmunna, we will return. And then we will make whips from thorns from the desert, and with them we will rip the flesh off your bones!”
8 et inde conscendens venit in Phanuhel locutusque est ad viros eius loci similia cui et illi responderunt sicut responderant viri Soccoth
From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
9 dixit itaque et eis cum reversus fuero victor in pace destruam turrem hanc
So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
10 Zebee autem et Salmana requiescebant cum omni exercitu suo quindecim milia enim viri remanserant ex omnibus turmis orientalium populorum caesis centum viginti milibus bellatorum et educentium gladium
By that time, Zebah and Zalmunna had gone to Karkor [town] with 15,000 troops. They were all that were left of the armies that had come from the east. 120,000 of their men had already been killed.
11 ascendensque Gedeon per viam eorum qui in tabernaculis morabantur ad orientalem partem Nobee et Iecbaa percussit castra hostium qui securi erant et nihil adversi suspicabantur
Gideon [and his men] went east along the road on which caravans travel. They went past Nobah and Jogbehah [villages] and arrived at the enemy camp by surprise.
12 fugeruntque Zebee et Salmana quos persequens Gedeon conprehendit turbato omni exercitu eorum
Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
13 revertensque de bello ante solis ortum
After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
14 adprehendit puerum de viris Soccoth interrogavitque eum nomina principum et seniorum Soccoth et descripsit septuaginta septem viros
There he captured a young man from Succoth, and demanded that he write down the names of all of the leaders in the town. The young man wrote down seventy-seven names.
15 venitque ad Soccoth et dixit eis en Zebee et Salmana super quibus exprobrastis mihi dicentes forsitan manus Zebee et Salmana in manibus tuis sunt et idcirco postulas ut demus viris qui lassi sunt et defecerunt panes
Then Gideon and his men returned to Succoth and said to those leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you made fun of me and said ‘You have not [RHQ] caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! After you catch them, we will give your exhausted men some food.’”
16 tulit ergo seniores civitatis et spinas deserti ac tribulos et contrivit cum eis atque comminuit viros Soccoth
Then Gideon’s men took the town leaders and whipped them with whips made from briers from the desert, to teach them [that they deserved to be punished for not giving them any food].
17 turrem quoque Phanuhel subvertit occisis habitatoribus civitatis
Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
18 dixitque ad Zebee et Salmana quales fuerunt viri quos occidistis in Thabor qui responderunt similes tui et unus ex eis quasi filius regis
Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed near Tabor [Mountain], what did they look like?” They replied, “They were like you; they all looked like they were sons of a king.”
19 quibus ille ait fratres mei fuerunt filii matris meae vivit Dominus si servassetis eos non vos occiderem
Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
20 dixitque Ietther primogenito suo surge et interfice eos qui non eduxit gladium timebat enim quia adhuc puer erat
Then he turned to his oldest son, Jether. He said to him, “Kill them!” But Jether was only a boy, and he was afraid, so he did not pull out his dagger [to kill them].
21 dixeruntque Zebee et Salmana tu surge et inrue in nos quia iuxta aetatem robur est hominis surrexit Gedeon et interfecit Zebee et Salmana et tulit ornamenta ac bullas quibus colla regalium camelorum decorari solent
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Do not ask a young boy to do the work that a man should do!” So Gideon killed both of them. Then he took the gold ornaments from the necks of their camels.
22 dixeruntque omnes viri Israhel ad Gedeon dominare nostri tu et filius tuus et filius filii tui quia liberasti nos de manu Madian
Then a group of Israeli men [came to] Gideon and said to him, “You be our ruler! [We want] you and your son and your grandsons [to] be our rulers, because you rescued us from the Midian army.”
23 quibus ille ait non dominabor vestri nec dominabitur in vos filius meus sed dominabitur Dominus
But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
24 dixitque ad eos unam petitionem postulo a vobis date mihi inaures ex praeda vestra inaures enim aureas Ismahelitae habere consuerant
Then he said, “I request only one thing. I request that each of you give me one earring from the things you captured after the battle.” [All the men descended from Ishmael wore gold earrings.]
25 qui responderunt libentissime dabimus expandentesque super terram pallium proiecerunt in eo inaures de praeda
They replied, “We will be glad to give earrings to you!” So they spread a cloth [on the ground], and each man threw on it one gold earring that he had taken [from a man he had killed in the battle].
26 et fuit pondus postulatarum inaurium mille septingenti auri sicli absque ornamentis et monilibus et veste purpurea quibus Madian reges uti soliti erant et praeter torques aureos camelorum
The weight of all the earrings was (43 pounds/19.4 kg.). That did not include other things [that they gave to Gideon]—the other ornaments or the pendants or the clothes that the kings of Midian wore or the gold chains that were on the necks of their camels.
27 fecitque ex eo Gedeon ephod et posuit illud in civitate sua Ephra fornicatusque est omnis Israhel in eo et factum est Gedeoni et omni domui eius in ruinam
Gideon made/decorated a sacred vest from the gold, and later he put it in his hometown, Ophrah. But soon the Israeli people started to worship the vest. So it became like a trap [MET] for the people, [causing them to worship it instead of worshiping only God].
28 humiliatus est autem Madian coram filiis Israhel nec potuerunt ultra elevare cervices sed quievit terra per quadraginta annos quibus praefuit Gedeon
That is how the Israelis defeated the people from Midian. The people of Midian did not become strong enough to attack Israel again. So while Gideon was alive, there was peace in the land for 40 years.
29 abiit itaque Hierobbaal filius Ioas et habitavit in domo sua
Gideon went back home to live there.
30 habuitque septuaginta filios qui egressi sunt de femore eius eo quod plures haberet uxores
He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
31 concubina autem illius quam habebat in Sychem genuit ei filium nomine Abimelech
He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 mortuusque est Gedeon filius Ioas in senectute bona et sepultus in sepulchro Ioas patris sui in Ephra de familia Ezri
Gideon died when he was very old. They buried his body in the grave where his father Joash was buried, at Ophrah, in the land belonging to the descendants of Abiether.
33 postquam autem mortuus est Gedeon aversi sunt filii Israhel et fornicati cum Baalim percusseruntque cum Baal foedus ut esset eis in deum
But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelis [stopped worshiping God and started worshiping the images of the god Baal, like] [MET] adultresses [leave their husbands and go to sleep with other men]. They made a [statue of a] new god called Baal-Berith.
34 nec recordati sunt Domini Dei sui qui eruit eos de manu omnium inimicorum suorum per circuitum
They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 nec fecerunt misericordiam cum domo Hierobbaal Gedeon iuxta omnia bona quae fecerat Israheli
And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
