Judges 8:14

14 and he took (hold of) a young man of the men of Succoth; and he asked him the names of the princes, and of the elder men of Succoth; and he described (to Gideon) seven and seventy men in number.

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 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, whom Gideon pursued, and (he) took (hold of them), when all their host was troubled.

13 And he turned again from battle before the rising of the sun, (And Gideon returned from the battle by way of the Ascent of Heres,)

14 and he took (hold of) a young man of the men of Succoth; and he asked him the names of the princes, and of the elder men of Succoth; and he described (to Gideon) seven and seventy men in number.

15 And he came to Succoth, and said to them, Lo, (here be) Zebah and Zalmunna! of which ye upbraided me (of whom ye upbraided me), and said, In hap the hands of Zebah and of Zalmunna be in thine hands, and therefore thou askest, that we give (some) loaves to (thy) men, that be weary and failed.

16 Therefore Gideon took the elder men of the city, and thorns and briars of (the) desert, and he rent with those, and all-brake the men of Succoth; (And so Gideon took hold of the city elders, and some thorns and briars from the desert, and he tore, or cut, them with those, and broke the men of Succoth all to pieces;)