Hakim-hakim 6:11-12
Konteks6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger 1 came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon 2 was threshing 3 wheat in a winepress 4 so he could hide it from the Midianites. 5 6:12 The Lord’s messenger appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!”
Hakim-hakim 8:27
Konteks8:27 Gideon used all this to make 6 an ephod, 7 which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites 8 prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it 9 there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
[6:11] 1 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
[6:11] sn The
[6:11] 2 tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.
[6:11] 3 tn Heb “beating out.”
[6:11] 4 sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
[8:27] 6 tn Heb “made it into.”
[8:27] 7 sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.
[8:27] 8 tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).
[8:27] 9 tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
