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.
Parallel translations
- 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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 106:39Thus were they defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
- Deut 7:16You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you.
- Judg 18:14Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, “Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do.”
- Judg 17:5The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
- Judg 18:17The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
- Exod 23:33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
- Judg 6:24Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- Deut 12:5But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and there you shall come.
- 1 Sam 23:9–10David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
- Isa 8:20Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
- Hos 2:2Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
- Hos 4:12–14My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.
- Ps 73:27For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.
- Judg 6:11Yahweh’s angel came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.
- Judg 8:32–33Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- Exod 28:6–35“They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman.
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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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