Judges 8:27

 Judges 8:27

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.

a. NLT: Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. 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. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. 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. [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Classic Amplified: And Gideon made an ephod [a sacred, high priest’s garment] of it, and put it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel paid homage to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Rubin Edition/ Joshua: Gideon made it into an ephod and hung it in his city, in Ophrah. [Eventually] all Israel strayed after it there, and it became a snare for Gideon and his household.  [The Artscroll Series/Rubin Edition The Prophets: Joshua/Judges Copyright 2000 by Mesorah Publication, Ltd.] 

1. “And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah…”

a. [And] Gideon [Strong: 1439 Gid`own ghid-ohn' from 1438; feller (i.e. warrior); Gidon, an Israelite:--Gideon.]

b. made [Strong: 6213 `asah aw-saw' a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows):--accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

c. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

d. [an] ephod [thereof] [Strong: 640 'aphad aw-fad' a primitive root (rather a denominative from 646); to gird on (the ephod):--bind, gird.]

1). Gordon Lindsay, Old Testament Series, Volume 14: Gideon, despite his good qualities, made some serious mistakes. He unwisely requested that the children of israel give him their ornaments of gold and silver which they had taken from the Midianites, that he might make an ephod for use in his office of civil magistrate. (David later did the same 1 Chronicles 15:27). It would appear that Gideon had no idolatrous purpose in view in this, for he himself had destroyed Baal worship in Israel, and it was not resumed until after his death (Judges 8:33). This magnificent garment covered with jewels, unfortunately, became an object to which religious significance was attached. Just as the children of Israel, in the course of the years, began to give adoration to the brazen serpent, so did they do to Gideon’s ephod. In due time it came to be considered as a relic possessing virtue.

e. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

f. [and] put it [Strong: 3322 yatsag yaw-tsag' a primitive root; to place permanently:--establish, leave, make, present, put, set, stay.]

g. [in his] city [Strong: 5892 `iyr eer or (in the plural) par {awr}; or ayar (Judges 10:4) {aw-yar'}; from 5782 a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post):--Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town.]

h. [even in] Ophrah [Strong: 6084 `Ophrah of-raw' feminine of 6082; female fawn; Ophrah, the name of an Israelite and of two places in Palestine:--Ophrah.]

2. “...and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.”

a. [and] all [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

b. Israel [Strong: 3478 Yisra'el yis-raw-ale' from 8280 and 410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: --Israel.]

c. [went thither [Strong: 8033 sham shawm a primitive particle (rather from the relative pronoun, 834); there (transferring to time) then; often thither, or thence:--in it, + thence, there (-in, + of, + out), + thither, + whither.]

d. [a] whoring [Strong: 2181 zanah zaw-naw' a primitive root (highly-fed and therefore wanton); to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); figuratively, to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah):--(cause to) commit fornication, X continually, X great, (be an, play the) harlot, (cause to be, play the) whore, (commit, fall to) whoredom, (cause to) go a-whoring, whorish.]

1). This was strong language. The relationship between Israel and God was a marriage and when Israel worshipped other gods they were described by God as “playing the whore”.

a). Leviticus 20:5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

b). Numbers 25:1-3 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

25:2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

25:3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

e. after [it] [Strong: 310 'achar akh-ar' from 309; properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses):--after (that, -ward), again, at, away from, back (from, -side), behind, beside, by, follow (after, -ing), forasmuch, from, hereafter, hinder end, + out (over) live, + persecute, posterity, pursuing, remnant, seeing, since, thence(-forth), when, with.]

f. [which thing] became [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

g. [a] snare [Strong: 4170 mowqesh mo-kashe' or moqesh {mo-kashe'}; from 3369; a noose (for catching animals) (literally or figuratively): by implication, a hook (for the nose):--be ensnared, gin, (is) snare(-d), trap.]

h. [unto] Gideon [Strong: 1439 Gid`own ghid-ohn' from 1438; feller (i.e. warrior); Gidon, an Israelite:--Gideon.]

i. [and to his] house [Strong: 1004 bayith bah'-yith probably from 1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.):--court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter)house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within(-out).]