Judges 8:13
in Judges 8After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.
KJV
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up,
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This verse in Judges 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Before the sun was up - The translation of the words is doubtful, because of the rarity of the word rendered “sun” (חרס cheres). Many suppose it to be the name of a mountain pass, and render it from the ascent of Heres.
This site's exposition
returned from battle before the sun was up
on Judges 8:13-14
A young man of Succoth is caught and questioned, and where the King James says he described unto him the princes, the Hebrew verb is the ordinary word for writing. Keil and Delitzsch take it that the young man wrote the seventy seven names down, which would put reading and writing in the hands of an ordinary townsman in the Judges period. Gideon reaches Succoth holding a list of every man who refused him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Are the hands, &c. - Art thou so foolish, to think with thy three hundred faint and weary soldiers, to conquer and destroy an host of fifteen thousand Men? Thus the bowels of their compassion were shut up against their brethren. Surely they were worshippers of Baal, or in the interest of Midian.
Before the sun was up - By which it might be gathered, that he came upon them in the night, which was most convenient for him who had so small a number with him; and most likely to terrify them by the remembrance of the last Night's sad work.
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Gideon returned from battle before the sun was up--He seems to have returned by a nearer route to Succoth, for what is rendered in our version "before the sun was up," means "the heights of Heres, the sun-hills."
Returned from battle before the sun was up - This does not appear to be a proper translation of מלמעלה החרס milmaaleh hechares. It should be rendered from the ascent of Chares: this is the reading of the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Arabic.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
With the sun high. Before sunset, with the sun still visible high above the horizon.
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֛שָׁב | vaiyashov | and he returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| גִּדְע֥וֹן | gidon | Gideon | H1439 → | 39 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יוֹאָ֖שׁ | yoash | Joash | H3101 → | 47 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה | hamilchamah | the battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| מִֽלְמַעֲלֵ֖ה | milmaaleh | from to [the] ascent of | H4608 → | |
| הֶחָֽרֶס׃ | hechares | <the> Heres | H2776 → |
וַיָּ֛שָׁבand he returned
vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times
גִּדְע֥וֹןGideon
gidonH1439 →39 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
יוֹאָ֖שׁJoash
yoashH3101 →47 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַמִּלְחָמָ֑הthe battle
hamilchamahH4421 →320 times
מִֽלְמַעֲלֵ֖הfrom to [the] ascent of
milmaalehH4608 →
הֶחָֽרֶס׃<the> Heres
hecharesH2776 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.