Judges 8:26

26 The gold earrings Gideon had asked for weighed 40 pounds. This did not include the half-moon ornaments, the earrings, the purple clothes worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains from 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 Gideon said to them, "Do me a favor. Each of you give me the earrings from your loot." (Their enemies, the Ishmaelites, wore gold earrings.)

25 The men of Israel answered, "Yes, we'll give them to you." So they spread out a coat. Each man took the earrings from his loot and dropped them on it.

26 The gold earrings Gideon had asked for weighed 40 pounds. This did not include the half-moon ornaments, the earrings, the purple clothes worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains from their camels' necks.

27 Then Gideon used the gold to make an idol and placed it in his hometown, Ophrah. All Israel chased after it there as though it were a prostitute. It became a trap for Gideon and his family.

28 The power of Midian was crushed by the people of Israel, and Midian never again became a threat. So the land had peace for 40 years during Gideon's life.