They answered, “We will willingly give them.” They spread a garment, and every man threw the earrings of his plunder into it.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
- BSB “We will give them gladly,” they replied. So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it.
- NKJV So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder.
- NASB And they said, “We will certainly give them to you.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them tossed an earring there from his plunder.
- NLT “Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder.
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 people gladly give Gideon the earrings, spreading a garment to collect them.
Overview
Their eager generosity shows continued gratitude, yet it enables Gideon's coming misstep. The pooled gold recalls the golden earrings used to make the calf at Sinai (Exod. 32), an ominous echo. What is freely given becomes the raw material for a snare.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 8:25 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.