Judges 8:26

26 The gold earrings he requested weighed more than forty-two pounds; and this doesn't include the crescents, pendants and purple cloth worn by the kings of Midyan and the chains around their camels' necks.

Judges 8:26 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 8:26

And the weight of the golden earrings he requested was
one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold
Which, as Schcuchzer ^F5 computes, was eight hundred and ten ounces, five drachms, one scruple, and ten grains, of the weight of physicians; but as reckoned by Moatanus ^F6 amounted to eight hundred and fifty ounces, and were of the value of 6800 crowns of gold; and, according to Waserus ^F7, it amounted to 3400 Hungarian pieces of gold, and of their money at Zurich upwards of 15,413 pounds, and of our money 2,380 pounds:

besides ornaments;
such as were upon the necks of the camels, ( Judges 8:21 ) for the same word is used here as there:

and collars;
the Targum renders it a crown, and Ben Melech says in the Arabic language the word signifies clear crystal; but Kimchi and Ben Gersom take them to be golden vessels, in which they put "stacte", or some odoriferous liquor, and so were properly smelling bottles:

and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian;
which it seems was the colour that kings wore, as they now do; so Strabo ^F8 says of the kings of Arabia, that they are clothed in purple:

and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks;
which seem to be different from the other ornaments about them, since another word is here used; now all these seem to have been what fell to his share, as the general of the army, and not what were given him by the people.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Physica Sacra, vol. 3. p. 468.
F6 Tubal Cain, p. 15.
F7 De Numis. Heb. l. 2. c. 10.
F8 Geograph. l. 16. p. 539.

Judges 8:26 In-Context

24 Then he added, "But I have this request to make of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from the booty you have taken." For the enemy soldiers had worn gold earrings, like all the other tribes descended from Yishma'el.

25 They replied, "We're glad to give them to you." They spread out a robe, and each man threw in the earrings from his booty.

26 The gold earrings he requested weighed more than forty-two pounds; and this doesn't include the crescents, pendants and purple cloth worn by the kings of Midyan and the chains around their camels' necks.

27 Out of these things Gid'on made a ritual vest, which he located in his city, 'Ofrah. But all Isra'el turned it into an idol there, and it thus became a snare to Gid'on and his family.

28 This is how Midyan was defeated by Isra'el, so that they ceased to be a threat. The land had rest forty years during the lifetime of Gid'on;