Discovery BoxJudges 2:2 
Context2:2 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
Context8:24 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
Context8:27 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
Context13:14 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.”
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.”
