Judges 8 · Verse 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.
Judges 8:27, King James Version

Judges 8:27 in other translations

BSBFrom all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
WEBGideon made an ephod out of it, and put it in Ophrah, his city. Then all Israel played the prostitute with it there; and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
ASVAnd 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.
YLTand 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.
DARBYAnd Gideon made an ephod of them, and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel went thither a whoring after it; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.
BBEAnd Gideon made an ephod from them and put it up in his town Ophrah; and all Israel went after it there and were false to the Lord; and it became a cause of sin to Gideon and his house.
WebsterAnd Gideon made of it an ephod, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither astray after it: which thing became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

What does Judges 8:27 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
27. Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, ... Ophrah--That no idolatrous use was in view, nor any divisive course from Shiloh contemplated, is manifest from Jud 8:33. Gideon proposed, with the gold he received, to make an ephod for his use only as a civil magistrate or ruler, as David did (1Ch 15:27), and a magnificent pectoral or breastplate also. It would seem, from the history, that he was not blamable in making this ephod, as a civil robe or ornament merely, but that it afterward became an object to which religious ideas were attached; whereby it proved a snare, and consequently an evil, by perversion, to Gideon and his house [Taylor, Fragments].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 27 Gideon made an ephod thereof - That is, he made an ephod out of this mass of gold; but he could not employ it all in making this one garment, for it is not likely that any man could wear a coat of nearly one hundred pounds weight. It is likely that he made a whole tabernacle service in miniature out of this gold. All Israel went thither a whoring after it - This form of speech often occurs, and has been often explained. The whole Jewish nation is represented as being united to God as a wife is to her husband. Any act of idolatry is considered as a breach of their covenant with God, as an act of whoredom is the breach of the marriage agreement between man and wife. God calls himself the husband of the Jewish nation, and their idolatries acts of whoredom, adultery, and fornication. All Israel paid idolatrous worship to the ephod or sacerdotal establishment made by Gideon at Ophrah, and this is called going a whoring after it; see on Jdg 8:33 (note). For a description of the ephod, see Exo 25:7 (note); and for the other garments of the priests, see Exo 28:4 (note), etc.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Judges 8:22-28

Gideon refused the government the people offered him. No good man can be pleased with any honour done to himself, which belongs only to God. Gideon thought to keep up the remembrance of this victory by an ephod, made of the choicest of the spoils. But probably this ephod had, as usual, a teraphim annexed to it, and Gideon intended this for an oracle to be consulted. Many are led into false ways by one false step of…

Read the full comment on Judges 8:22-28 →

Judges 8:27 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיַּעַשׂ֩vai.ya.'Asand he madeH6213
אוֹת֨וֹ'o.To<obj.> itH853
גִדְע֜וֹןgid.'onGideonH1439
לְאֵפ֗וֹדle.'e.Fodinto an ephodH646
וַיַּצֵּ֨גvai.ya.Tzegand he placedH3322
אוֹת֤וֹ'o.To<obj.> itH853
בְעִירוֹ֙ve.'i.Roin city hisH5892
בְּעָפְרָ֔הbe.'a.fe.Rahin OphrahH6084
וַיִּזְנ֧וּvai.yiz.Nuand they acted as prostitutesH2181
כָֽל\־khol-allH3605
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
אַחֲרָ֖יו'a.cha.Ravafter itH310
שָׁ֑םShamthereH8033
וַיְהִ֛יvay.Hiand it becameH1961
לְגִדְע֥וֹןle.gid.'onfor GideonH1439
וּלְבֵית֖וֹu.le.vei.Toand for household hisH1004
לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ\׃le.mo.Kesh<into> a snareH4170

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Judges 8:27

  • Psalms 106:39

    Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

  • Deuteronomy 7:16

    And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

  • Judges 18:14

    Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

  • Judges 17:5

    And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

  • Judges 18:17

    And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.

  • Exodus 23:33

    They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

  • Judges 6:24

    Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah–shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi–ezrites.

  • Hosea 2:2

    Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

  • Deuteronomy 12:5

    But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

  • Exodus 28:6-35

    And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: …

  • Hosea 4:12-14

    My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

  • Isaiah 8:20

    To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
an ephod.
17:5; 18:14,17; Ex 28:6-12; 1Sa 23:9,10; Isa 8:20
Ophrah.
32; 6:11,24; De 12:5
a whoring.
Ex 23:33; Ps 73:27; 106:39; Ho 2:2; 4:12-14
a snare.
33; De 7:16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Judges 8:26

    And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

  • 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.

  • Judges 8:28

    Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

Read all of Judges 8

Judges 8:27 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y Gedeón hizo de ellos un ephod, el cual hizo guardar en su ciudad de Ophra: y todo Israel fornicó tras de ese ephod en aquel lugar; y fué por tropiezo á Gedeón y á su casa.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et Gédéon en fit un éphod, et le mit dans sa ville, dans Ophra; et tout Israël se prostitua là après celui-ci; et cela devint un piège pour Gédéon et pour sa maison.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Gideon machte daraus ein Ephod und stellte es in seiner Stadt auf, in Ophra. Und ganz Israel hurte demselben dort nach; und es wurde Gideon und seinem Hause zum Fallstrick.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Fecitque ex eo Gedeon ephod, et posuit illud in civitate sua Ephra. Fornicatusque est omnis Israël in eo, et factum est Gedeoni et omni domui ejus in ruinam.