Judges 2:2

2:2 but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ ¹  But you have disobeyed me. ²  Why would you do such a thing? ³ 

Judges 8:24

8:24 Gideon continued, ⁴  “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.” ⁵  (The Midianites ⁶  had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

Judges 8:27

8:27 Gideon used all this to make ⁷  an ephod, ⁸  which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites ⁹  prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it ¹⁰  there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Judges 13:14

13:14 She should not drink ¹¹  anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. ¹²  She should obey everything I commanded her to do.”

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¹ tn Heb “their altars.”

² tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

³ tn Heb “What is this you have done?”

⁴ tn Heb “said to them.”

⁵ tn Heb “Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder.”

⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “made it into.”

⁸ sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.

⁹ tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).

¹⁰ tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “eat.”

¹² tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”