Judges 8:25

25 “Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder.

Judges 8:25 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 8:25

And they answered, we will willingly give them
Or, "in giving we will give" ^F4; give them with all their hearts, most freely and cheerfully:

and they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings
of his prey;
every man one, which would amount to no more than three hundred; though perhaps those who joined in the pursuit might take many more, or otherwise the weight of them would not amount to what in the next verse they are said to weigh.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Ntn Nwtn) "dando dabimus", Pagninus, Montanus.

Judges 8:25 In-Context

23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD will rule over you!

24 However, I do have one request—that each of you give me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.” (The enemies, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.)

25 “Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder.

26 The weight of the gold earrings was forty-three pounds, not including the royal ornaments and pendants, the purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian, or the chains around the necks of their camels.

27 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.