Judges 8:14

14 He captured a young man from Succoth and asked some questions. The young man wrote down the names of the officials and leaders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.

Judges 8:14 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 8:14

And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of
him
Just before he came to the city, he spied a young man which belonged to it, and laid hold on him, and inquired of him about the chief magistrates of the city, who they were, what their names, and their places of abode:

and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders
thereof, even seventy seven men;
by which it appears that this was no inconsiderable city to have so many princes and elders in it; these the young man described to Gideon, what sort of men they were, what their names, and where they dwelt: or "he wrote unto him" ^F25; wrote down their names, and what part of the city they dwelt in; or Gideon took down in writing for himself their names and places of abode from the young man, that he might not forget: and in this Gideon showed great wisdom, and strict justice; being desirous to punish only the delinquents, and not the innocent with the wicked, the people with their rulers; for though he asked bread of the men of Succoth, the answer was returned in the ill natured manner it was by the princes.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (wyla btkyw) "et scripsit ad eum", Montanus, Piscator; "et scripsit sibi", Pagninus, Munster; so some in Drusius.

Judges 8:14 In-Context

12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but he chased and captured the two kings of Midian. The whole camp had panicked.

13 Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by way of the Heres Pass.

14 He captured a young man from Succoth and asked some questions. The young man wrote down the names of the officials and leaders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.

15 Then Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are the wild geese, Zebah and Zalmunna, you said I'd never catch. You wouldn't give so much as a scrap of bread to my worn-out men; you taunted us, saying that we were on a fool's errand."

16 Then he took the seventy-seven leaders of Succoth and thrashed them with desert thorns and thistles.