Judges 5:8

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

יִבְחַר֙ אֱלֹהִ֣ים חֲדָשִׁ֔ים אָ֖ז לָחֶ֣ם שְׁעָרִ֑ים מָגֵ֤ן אִם־יֵֽרָאֶה֙ וָרֹ֔מַח בְּאַרְבָּעִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Transliteration

Bachar Elohim new-ones, then war gates; shield if-raah and-spear among-forty thousand in-Israel

Grammar Details

*Bachar*: Qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he will choose/chose
*Elohim*: noun, masculine plural - God/gods
חֲדָשִׁ֔ים: adjective, masculine plural - new ones
אָ֖ז: adverb - then
לָחֶ֣ם: noun, masculine singular - battle/war/bread
שְׁעָרִ֑ים: noun, masculine plural - gates
מָגֵ֤ן: noun, masculine singular - shield
אִם־יֵֽרָאֶה֙: particle + Niphal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - if it was seen
וָרֹ֔מַח: waw conjunction + noun, masculine singular - and spear
בְּאַרְבָּעִ֥ים: preposition ב + number - among forty
אֶ֖לֶף: noun, masculine singular - thousand
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל: preposition ב + proper name - in Israel

Word Meanings

*bachar*: choose/select/elect
*Elohim*: God/gods/divine beings
*raah*: see/appear/be visible
לָחֶ֣ם: war/battle/bread/food

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

🔄 Compare with

ESVNIVCSBNLTNASBNET

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Deut 32:16-17 : 16 They moved him to jealousy with strange [gods]; With abominations provoked they him to anger. 17 They sacrificed unto demons, [which were] no God, To gods that they knew not, To new [gods] that came up of late, Which your fathers dreaded not.
Judg 2:12 : 12 and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger.
Judg 2:17 : 17 And yet they hearkened not unto their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Jehovah; [but] they did not so.
Judg 4:3 : 3 And the sons of Israel cried unto Jehovah: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the sons of Israel.
1 Sam 13:19-22 : 19 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: 20 but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock; 21 yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads. 22 So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Judg 5:6-7
2 verses
76%
6In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, And the travellers walked through byways.
7The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.
Judg 5:9
75%
9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, That offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye Jehovah.
Judg 20:34
73%
34And there came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore; but they knew not that evil was close upon them.
Judg 20:2
73%
2And the chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
Judg 5:1-2
2 verses
71%
1Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah.
Judg 20:17-20
4 verses
71%
17And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
18And the children of Israel arose, and went up to {H1004} Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah [shall go up] first.
19And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
20And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah.
Josh 22:12
70%
12And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war.
1 Sam 4:2
70%
2And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
1 Chr 5:22
70%
22For there fell many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their stead until the captivity.
Judg 10:6
70%
6And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook Jehovah, and served him not.
Num 31:4-5
2 verses
70%
4Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.
5So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
1 Sam 4:10
70%
10And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
Judg 5:11
69%
11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, [Even] the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.
Judg 4:5-6
2 verses
69%
5And she lived under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Has not Jehovah, the God of Israel, commanded, [saying], Go and draw unto mountain Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun?
Judg 4:3
69%
3And the sons of Israel cried unto Jehovah: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the sons of Israel.
Judg 8:33-34
2 verses
69%
33And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.
34And the children of Israel remembered not Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;
Judg 20:10
69%
10and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
1 Sam 12:9
69%
9But they forgat Jehovah their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.
Judg 20:14
69%
14And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
Judg 18:16-17
2 verses
69%
16And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
Hos 10:9
69%
9O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.
Judg 4:10
68%
10And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
1 Chr 5:18
68%
18The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe {H7626} of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were forty and four thousand seven hundred and threescore, that were able to go forth to war.
Judg 4:13-14
2 verses
68%
13And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Nations, unto the river Kishon.
14And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which Jehovah has delivered Sisera into your hand; is not Jehovah gone out before you? So Barak went down from mountain Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
2 Chr 13:17
68%
17And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.
2 Sam 18:7
68%
7And the people of Israel were smitten there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men.
Judg 20:39
68%
39And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.
Judg 18:11
68%
11And there set forth from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
1 Sam 13:19
68%
19Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:
1 Sam 7:7
68%
7And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
1 Sam 19:8
67%
8And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.
1 Sam 11:8
67%
8And he numbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
Judg 20:27
67%
27And the children of Israel asked of Jehovah (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Judg 5:19
67%
19The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money.
Judg 11:5
67%
5And it was so, that, when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob;
1 Sam 17:21
67%
21And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army.
Judg 20:31
67%
31And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to {H1004} Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.