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Judges 8:9

in Judges 8

So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

KJV

And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

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This verse in Judges 8

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

I will tear your flesh with the thorns

on Judges 8:7-9

Both threats are carried out later, the thorns and briers at verse 16 and the tower at verse 17. Penuel is where Jacob wrestled and became Israel at Genesis 32:30, so both towns that refuse Gideon carry Jacob's own names. No word from God is recorded over either threat.

This site's exposition

I will tear down this tower

Gideon names the tower because, as Adam Clarke supposes, the men of Penuel pointed to it as their defence. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read the words when I return in triumph as a sign of strong faith, spoken while the kings were still free. The threat assumes the victory.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

In a threatening way, as he had spoken to the men of Succoth: saying, when I come again in peace: having conquered all his enemies, and delivered Israel from their bondage, and restored peace and prosperity to them, of which he had no doubt: I will break down this tower; pointing to it and which stood in their city, and in which they placed their confidence; and when he threatened them, boasted of it as their security.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

God gives notice of danger, and space to repent, that sinners may flee from the wrath to come. The warning being slighted, the punishment, though very severe, was really very just.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

His confident anticipation of a triumphant return evinces the strength of his faith; and his specific threat was probably provoked by some proud and presumptuous boast, that in their lofty watchtower the Penuelites would set him at defiance.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I will break down this tower - Probably they had not only denied him, but insultingly pointed to a tower in which their chief defense lay; and intimated to him that he might do his worst, for they could amply defend themselves.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֛אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • לְאַנְשֵׁ֥יto [the] men of

    leansheiH582 →566 times

  • פְנוּאֵ֖לPenuel

    fenuelH6439 →9 times

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • בְּשׁוּבִ֣יwhen return I

    beshuviH7725 →1056 times

  • בְשָׁל֔וֹםin peace

    veshalomH7965 →236 times

  • אֶתֹּ֖ץI will tear down

    ʾetotzH5422 →42 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמִּגְדָּ֥לthe tower

    hamigdalH4026 →48 times

  • הַזֶּֽה׃ פ<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

1 stop

Each 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 8:17

    He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 12:25

      Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 8 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.

Read on in Judges 8 →