Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks.
- KJV Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.
- NKJV So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.
- NASB Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and attack us; for as the man, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent amulets which were on their camels’ necks.
- NLT Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Be a man! Kill us yourself!” So Gideon killed them both and took the royal ornaments from the necks of their camels.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The kings ask Gideon himself to kill them; he does so and takes the ornaments from their camels.
Overview
Preferring death by a strong man's hand, the kings provoke Gideon to act, and he executes them. Taking the royal crescents anticipates the plunder Gideon will gather and the temptation it brings. The deaths end Midian's threat but begin a turn toward Gideon's later compromise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 83:11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
- Judg 8:26The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.
- Isa 3:18In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents;
- 1 Sam 31:5When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.
- Rev 9:6In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
- Judg 9:54He quickly called his armor-bearer, saying, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So Abimelech’s armor-bearer ran his sword through him, and he died.
- Ps 83:1A song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God.
- 1 Sam 31:3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 8:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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