From 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Gideon 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
- NASB Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah; but all Israel committed infidelity with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
- 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 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
Gideon makes a gold ephod that becomes an idolatrous snare to him and all Israel.
Overview
The ephod, perhaps intended to honor God or commemorate victory, instead draws Israel into spiritual prostitution. Gideon's compromise, mixing devotion with self-made worship, ensnares his house and the nation. It warns that even God's servants can lead others astray when they depart from prescribed worship, and highlights the need for a flawless mediator, fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 106:39They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
- Deut 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Judg 18:14Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.”
- Judg 17:5Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
- Judg 18:17And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.
- Exod 23:33They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
- Judg 6:24So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- Deut 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- 1 Sam 23:9–10When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
- Hos 2:2Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
- Hos 4:12–14My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
- Ps 73:27Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
- Judg 6:11Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
- Judg 8:32–33Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- Exod 28:6–35They are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.
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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 8:27 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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