Judges 8 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: MT 8:12
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
Judges 8
Victory and its temptations: fidelity to Christ beyond success
Editorial Christian reading: the disputes, vengeance, and later cultic snare call for discernment alongside 1 Corinthians 10:12–14. Hebrews 11:32 remembers Gideon’s faith [NT]; that remembrance does not settle every judgment about his actions.
8:1–9 | Ephraim’s complaint; Succoth and Penuel refuse aid
Verse MT 8:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:1
The men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight Midian?” They contended fiercely with him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:1
The men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this you have done to us, not calling us when you went out to fight Midian?” They disputed fiercely with him.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Ephraim’s complaint and its intensity agree.
Verse MT 8:2 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:2
He said to them, “What have I now done compared with you? Are not Ephraim’s gleanings better than Abiezer’s vintage?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:2
He said to them, “What have I now done compared with you? Are not Ephraim’s gleanings better than Abiezer’s vintage?
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The conciliatory harvest comparison agrees.
Verse MT 8:3 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:3
God gave Midian’s princes, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hand. What could I do compared with you?” Then their spirit relaxed toward him when he said this.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:3
The Lord handed Midian’s rulers, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hand. What could I do compared with you?” And they stopped. Then their spirit relaxed toward him when he said this.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds and they stopped. It also has Lord where Hebrew has God.
Verse MT 8:4 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:4
Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men with him, exhausted yet pursuing.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:4
Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men with him, fainthearted and hungry.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek describes faintheartedness and hunger rather than exhaustion and continued pursuit.
Verse MT 8:5 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:5
He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people following at my feet, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, Midian’s kings.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:5
He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give bread to the people with me, for they are hungry, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, Midian’s kings.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew grounds the request in exhaustion; Greek explicitly names hunger.
Verse MT 8:6 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:6
Succoth’s princes said, “Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:6
Succoth’s rulers said, “Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The refusal questions whether the kings have already been captured. Hebrew singular palm and Greek singular hand function collectively as a capture idiom, not a statement about one severed hand.
Verse MT 8:7 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:7
Gideon said, “Therefore, when YHWH gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the wilderness thorns and the briers.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:7
Gideon said, “Not so! When the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will card your flesh with the wilderness thorns and the barkonnim.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew threshing becomes Greek carding or tearing, and Greek borrows the uncertain plant-name barkonnim rather than translating it. Both threaten bodily punishment.
Verse MT 8:8 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:8
He went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:8
He went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Penuel repeats Succoth’s refusal.
Verse MT 8:9 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:9
He also said to the men of Penuel, “When I return in peace, I will pull down this tower.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:9
He said to the men of Penuel, “When I return in peace, I will demolish this tower.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The threat against the tower agrees.
8:10–17 | The pursuit and reprisals
Verse MT 8:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:10
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, with their camp of about fifteen thousand—all who remained from the whole camp of the sons of the east. Those who had fallen were one hundred twenty thousand men who drew the sword.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:10
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkar, with their camp of about fifteen thousand—those left in the whole camp of the sons of the east. Those who had fallen were one hundred twenty thousand men who drew the sword.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The surviving and fallen totals agree; Karkor/Karkar are the place-name forms.
Verse MT 8:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:11
Gideon went up by the route of the tent-dwellers, east of Nobah and Jogbehah. He struck the camp while the camp felt secure.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:11
Gideon went up by the route of the tent-dwellers, east of Nabeth, opposite Zebah. He struck the camp while the camp was confident.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek has Nabeth and opposite Zebah where Hebrew locates the route east of Nobah and Jogbehah.
Verse MT 8:12 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:12
Zebah and Zalmunna fled. He pursued them and captured Midian’s two kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw the whole camp into panic.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:12
Zebah and Zalmunna fled. He pursued them and seized Midian’s two kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, and wiped out their whole camp.
Classification & Notes
Disparate
Text: The Hebrew outcome is panic throughout the camp; Greek asserts its destruction.
Verse MT 8:13 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:13
Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:13
Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Ares.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both name an ascent; the Hebrew Heres is treated as a place-name, not silently changed into a time of day.
Verse MT 8:14 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:14
He captured a young man from Succoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for him Succoth’s princes and elders, seventy-seven men.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:14
They captured a young man from Succoth, and he questioned him. The young man recorded for them Succoth’s rulers and elders, seventy-seven men.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek begins with a plural captor and gives a plural recipient of the list. The interrogation and seventy-seven names agree.
Verse MT 8:15 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:15
He came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your exhausted men?’”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:15
Gideon came to Succoth’s rulers and said to them, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, because of whom you reproached me, saying, ‘Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek specifies the rulers as the audience; the recalled taunt agrees substantially. Hebrew singular palm repeats the collective capture idiom of verse 6.
Verse MT 8:16 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:16
He took the city’s elders, and the wilderness thorns and briers, and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:16
He took the city’s rulers and elders and tore them with the wilderness thorns and the barakēnim; with these he tore the men of Succoth.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds rulers and explicitly repeats the tearing action. Hebrew’s made them know is retained as taught a lesson; Greek’s borrowed plant-name has a different form here from verse 7.
Verse MT 8:17 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:17
He pulled down Penuel’s tower and killed the men of the city.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:17
He demolished Penuel’s tower and killed the men of the city.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The destruction and killing agree.
8:18–21 | Zebah and Zalmunna
Verse MT 8:18 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:18
He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men you killed at Tabor?” They said, “As you are, so were they; each had the appearance of a king’s sons.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:18
He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men you killed at Tabor?” They said, “Like you, resembling you, resembling them, in appearance like the form of kings’ sons.”
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both ask where and describe royal-looking victims. Greek’s repetitive and awkward resemblance language is preserved.
Verse MT 8:19 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:19
He said, “They were my brothers, my mother’s sons. As YHWH lives, if you had kept them alive, I would not kill you.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:19
Gideon said, “They were my brothers and my mother’s sons.” He swore to them, “As the Lord lives, if you had kept them alive, I would not kill you.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek explicitly introduces the oath; its content corresponds to Hebrew’s oath formula.
Verse MT 8:20 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:20
He said to Jether his firstborn, “Arise, kill them.” But the boy did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was still a boy.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:20
He said to Jether his firstborn, “Arise, kill them.” But his boy did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was young.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The command and the boy’s fearful refusal agree.
Verse MT 8:21 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:21
Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Arise yourself and strike us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents from their camels’ necks.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:21
Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Arise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents from their camels’ necks.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The execution and taking of crescent ornaments correspond.
8:22–28 | Rule refused; the gold and the ephod
Verse MT 8:22 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:22
The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your son’s son—for you have saved us from Midian’s hand.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:22
The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule among us, you and your sons, for you have saved us from Midian’s hand.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew specifies three generations; Greek has Gideon and his sons.
Verse MT 8:23 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:23
Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. YHWH will rule over you.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:23
Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The refusal and affirmation of divine rule agree.
Verse MT 8:24 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:24
Gideon said to them, “Let me ask one thing of you: each of you give me a ring from his spoil.” For they had gold rings, because they were Ishmaelites.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:24
Gideon said to them, “Let me ask one thing of you: each of you give me an earring from his spoils.” For they had many gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek specifies earrings and adds many; Hebrew nezem can denote a ring worn at the ear or nose.
Verse MT 8:25 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:25
They said, “We will certainly give.” They spread out the cloak, and each threw there a ring from his spoil.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:25
They said, “We will certainly give.” He spread out his cloak, and each threw there a gold earring from his spoils.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew has plural people spreading the cloak; Greek has one person spreading his own. Greek also repeats gold.
Verse MT 8:26 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:26
The weight of the gold rings he requested was one thousand seven hundred in gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments worn by Midian’s kings, and apart from the necklaces on their camels’ necks.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:26
The weight of the gold earrings he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, apart from the sirōnes, the small necklaces called enphōth, and the purple cloaks worn by Midian’s kings, and apart from the gold collars on their camels’ necks.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek explicitly supplies shekels and gold collars; Hebrew leaves the weight unit implicit. Greek’s uncertain ornament terms sirōnes and enphōth are retained provisionally rather than replaced with crescents and pendants.
Verse MT 8:27 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:27
Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. All Israel prostituted themselves after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:27
Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ephrathah. All Israel prostituted themselves after it there, and it became a stumbling block to Gideon and his household.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The location differs as in chapter 6. The Greek borrowed ephoud corresponds to Hebrew ephod, and the harmful cultic consequence agrees.
Saints: Editorial canonical connection: the warning against idolatry in 1 Corinthians 10:12–14 offers a Christian reading of this cultic snare. No specific patristic attribution is claimed.
Verse MT 8:28 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:28
Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel and no longer lifted its head. The land was quiet for forty years in Gideon’s days.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:28
Midian was put to shame before the sons of Israel and no longer lifted its head. The land was quiet for forty years in Gideon’s days.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew subjection becomes Greek humiliation; the lowered head and forty-year rest agree.
8:29–35 | Gideon’s household, death, and Israel’s relapse
Verse MT 8:29 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:29
Jerubbaal son of Joash went and dwelt in his house.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:29
Jerubbaal son of Joash went and dwelt in his house.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The return home agrees.
Verse MT 8:30 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:30
Gideon had seventy sons who came from his loins, for he had many wives.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:30
Gideon had seventy sons who came from his loins, for he had many wives.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both give the same number and explanation.
Verse MT 8:31 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:31
His concubine in Shechem also bore him a son, and he gave him the name Abimelech.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:31
His concubine in Shechem also bore him a son, and he gave him the name Abimelech.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The son’s birth and name agree.
Verse MT 8:32 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:32
Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in his father Joash’s tomb, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:32
Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in his father Joash’s tomb, in Ephrathah of the father of Abiezri.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The place and clan-related wording continue the distinction of chapter 6.
Verse MT 8:33 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:33
When Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned back and prostituted themselves after the Baals. They made Baal-berith their god.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:33
When Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned back and prostituted themselves after the Baalim. They set Baal-berith in a covenant for themselves, to be their god.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds explicit covenant language alongside the divine name Baal-berith, Lord of the Covenant.
Verse MT 8:34 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:34
The sons of Israel did not remember YHWH their God, who rescued them from the hand of all their surrounding enemies.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:34
The sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who rescued them from the hand of all their surrounding enemies.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The charge of forgetting deliverance agrees.
Verse MT 8:35 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:35
They did not show steadfast kindness to the household of Jerubbaal—Gideon—in return for all the good he had done for Israel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:35
They did not show mercy to the household of Jerubbaal—Gideon—in return for all the goodness he had shown toward Israel.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Hebrew ḥesed and Greek eleos express the loyalty or mercy withheld from Gideon’s household.