Judges 8:14

14 He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him 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 And Zebee and Salmana fled, and Gedeon pursued and took them, all their host being put in confusion.

13 And returning from the battle before the sun rising,

14 He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him seventy-seven men.

15 And he came to Soccoth, and said to them: Behold Zebee, and Salmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hands, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and faint.

16 So he took the ancients of the city, and thorns and briers of the desert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of Soccoth.