Bible Strands
Judges 8:7
“Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Gideon addresses the elders of Succoth after they refuse to supply bread to his exhausted army. He declares that he will only punish them if the LORD delivers Zebah and Zalmunna into his hand.
The words — The verb בְּ/תֵ֧ת (be./Tet) literally means "when [he] gives" and anchors the threat to divine action. The object marker אֶת\־ (et-) directly precedes Zebah and Zalmunna, marking them as the specific targets of the promised violence.
The thread — The pattern of conditional divine delivery appears when Gideon bows in worship after hearing the Midianite dream (Judges 7:15). The identical refusal by another city follows immediately in Judges 8:8.
Why it lands — The text reports a conditional threat tied to future divine intervention rather than a completed military victory. It requires the reader to note how Gideon’s language shifts from immediate retaliation to reliance on Yahweh’s timing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Gideon said, Therefore when the Lord hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
Cross-references
- Judges 7:15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”