Judges 8:10
in Judges 8Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
KJV
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
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This verse in Judges 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verseNow Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor..... Jerom (u) under this word says, there was in his time a castle called Carcuria, a day's journey from Petra, which was the metropolis of Idumea; but whether the same with this is not clear: and their host with them, about fifteen thousand men; to which number Gideon and his three hundred men were very unequal; and yet, faint and weary as they were, closely pursued them, attacked and conquered them.
This site's exposition
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor
on Judges 8:10-12
Karkor lies far east of the Jezreel valley where chapter 7 began, so three hundred exhausted men have crossed Jordan and gone deep into open desert after a broken army. The count is fifteen thousand left of a hundred and twenty thousand that drew sword, the loss already made by the panic of 7:22 when every man's sword was set against his fellow. The host was secure means the camp reckoned itself past pursuit, and the same idea returns at Judges 18:7 and 18:27 of Laish, a people at quiet and secure the day before they are destroyed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He is not content to chase them out of the country, but he will chase them out of the world, Job xviii. This resolution is here pushed on with great firmness, and crowned with great success. His firmness was very exemplary.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor - If this were a place, it is nowhere else mentioned in Scripture. Some contend that קרקר karkor signifies rest; and thus the Vulgate understood it: Zebah and Zalmunna requiescebant, rested, with all their army. And this seems the most likely, for it is said, Jdg 8:11, that Gideon smote the host, for the host was secure.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Zebah and Zalmunna seem to have fled nearly due east to Karkor, which was probably an enclosure of some kind (perhaps a walled sheepfold, compare Num 31:32 note). Its site is unknown; but it was near Nobah, in the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead Num 32:40, and Jogbehah was in the tribe of Gad Num 32:34-35. Gideon, perhaps taking a circuit so as to come upon them from the east, fell suddenly upon them, apparently at night, surprised them, and smote them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
By way of the tent dwellers. By way of the lands of Kedar and Arabia, whose inhabitants were wilderness tent dwellers. Since they were occupied exclusively as shepherds, they could not dwell in houses.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְזֶ֨בַח | vezevach | and Zebah | H2078 → | 12 times |
| וְצַלְמֻנָּ֜ע | vetzalmuna' | and Zalmunna | H6759 → | 12 times |
| בַּקַּרְקֹ֗ר | bakarkor | [were] in <the> Karkor | H7174 → | |
| וּמַחֲנֵיהֶ֤ם | umachaneihem | and armies their | H4264 → | 215 times |
| עִמָּם֙ | ʾimam | [were] with them | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| כַּחֲמֵ֤שֶׁת | kachameshet | about fif- | H2568 → | 343 times |
| עָשָׂר֙ | ʾasar | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| אֶ֔לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| כֹּ֚ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַנּ֣וֹתָרִ֔ים | hanotarim | those [who] remained | H3498 → | 106 times |
| מִכֹּ֖ל | mikol | of all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַחֲנֵ֣ה | machaneh | [the] army of | H4264 → | 215 times |
| בְנֵי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| קֶ֑דֶם | kedem | [the] east | H6924 → | 87 times |
| וְהַנֹּ֣פְלִ֔ים | vehanofelim | and those [who] fell | H5307 → | 435 times |
| מֵאָ֨ה | meah | [were] one hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים | veesrim | and twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| אֶ֛לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| שֹׁ֥לֵֽף | sholef | [who] drew | H8025 → | 25 times |
| חָֽרֶב׃ | charev | [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
וְזֶ֨בַחand Zebah
vezevachH2078 →12 times
וְצַלְמֻנָּ֜עand Zalmunna
vetzalmuna'H6759 →12 times
בַּקַּרְקֹ֗ר[were] in <the> Karkor
bakarkorH7174 →
וּמַחֲנֵיהֶ֤םand armies their
umachaneihemH4264 →215 times
עִמָּם֙[were] with them
ʾimamH5973 →1050 times
כַּחֲמֵ֤שֶׁתabout fif-
kachameshetH2568 →343 times
עָשָׂר֙teen
ʾasarH6240 →338 times
אֶ֔לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
כֹּ֚לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
הַנּ֣וֹתָרִ֔יםthose [who] remained
hanotarimH3498 →106 times
מִכֹּ֖לof all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
מַחֲנֵ֣ה[the] army of
machanehH4264 →215 times
בְנֵי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
קֶ֑דֶם[the] east
kedemH6924 →87 times
וְהַנֹּ֣פְלִ֔יםand those [who] fell
vehanofelimH5307 →435 times
מֵאָ֨ה[were] one hundred
meahH3967 →581 times
וְעֶשְׂרִ֥יםand twenty
veesrimH6242 →315 times
אֶ֛לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
אִ֖ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
שֹׁ֥לֵֽף[who] drew
sholefH8025 →25 times
חָֽרֶב׃[the] sword
charevH2719 →413 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 20:46That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor.
it leads to
- Judges 20:15
On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 20:35
The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.
- Judges 20:15
Through
Judges 7:12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
it leads to
- Judges 6:5
For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
- Joshua 11:4
So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots.
- Judges 6:3
Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
- Isaiah 8:9–10
Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- Psalms 118:10–12
All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- Judges 6:5
Through
Judges 20:25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
it leads to
- Judges 20:21
And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
- Judges 20:21
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.