Discovery BoxJudges 8:6 
Context8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give 1 bread to your army?” 2
Judges 8:8
Context8:8 He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. 3 The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. 4
Judges 8:16
Context8:16 He seized the leaders 5 of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then “threshed” the men of Succoth with them. 6
1 tn Or perhaps, “sell.”
2 tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).
sn The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon’s forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.
3 tn Heb “and spoke to them in the same way.”
4 tn Heb “The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.”
5 tn Heb “elders.”
6 tc The translation follows the reading of several ancient versions (LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) in assuming the form וַיָּדָשׁ (vayyadash) from the verb דּוֹשׁ (dosh, “thresh”) as in v. 7. The MT reads instead the form וַיֹּדַע (vayyoda’, “make known”), a Hiphil form of יָדַע (yadah). In this case one could translate, “he used them [i.e., the thorns and briers] to teach the men of Succoth a lesson.”
