Key Verse Spotlight
Judges 8:16 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. "
Judges 8:16
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
14 He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him; and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men.
15 He came to the men of Succoth, and said, “See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’”
16 He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17 He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.
18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “They were like you. They all resembled the children of a king.”
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Judges 8:1
"The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us when you went to fight with Midian?” They rebuked him sharply."
Judges 8:2
"He said to them, “What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?"
Judges 8:3
"God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb! What was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that."
Judges 8:4
"Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing."
Judges 8:5
"He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”"
Judges 8:6
"The princes of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”"
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