Discovery BoxJudges 8:26-27 
Context8:26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. 1 This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, 2 purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. 3 8:27 Gideon used all this to make 4 an ephod, 5 which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites 6 prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it 7 there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
1 sn Seventeen hundred gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.
2 tn Or “pendants.”
3 tn Heb “the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.”
4 tn Heb “made it into.”
5 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.
6 tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).
7 tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
