Judges 8:27

Bible in Basic English (1941)

And Gideon made an ephod from them and put it up in his town Ophrah; and all Israel went after it there and were false to the Lord; and it became a cause of sin to Gideon and his house.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיַּעַשׂ֩ אוֹת֨וֹ גִדְע֜וֹן לְאֵפ֗וֹד וַיַּצֵּ֨ג אוֹת֤וֹ בְעִירוֹ֙ בְּעָפְרָ֔ה וַיִּזְנ֧וּ כָֽל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אַחֲרָ֖יו שָׁ֑ם וַיְהִ֛י לְגִדְע֥וֹן וּלְבֵית֖וֹ לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ׃

Transliteration

And wayyaʿaś [made] ʾôtô [it] gidʿôn [Gideon] ləʾēpôd [into an ephod], and wayyaṣṣēg [placed] ʾôtô [it] bəʿîrô [in his city] bəʿoprāh [in Ophrah], and wayyiznû [prostituted themselves] kol-yiśrāʾēl [all Israel] ʾaḥărāyw [after it] šām [there]; and wayəhî [it became] ləgidʿôn [to Gideon] and ûləbêtô [to his house] ləmôqēš [as a snare].

Grammar Details

• *wayyaʿaś*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular of *ʿāśâ* - and made
• *ʾôtô*: direct object marker + 3rd masculine singular suffix - it
• *gidʿôn*: proper noun - Gideon
• *ləʾēpôd*: preposition *lə* + noun, masculine singular - into an ephod
• *wayyaṣṣēg*: waw consecutive + hiphil imperfect, 3rd masculine singular of *nāṣag* - and placed
• *bəʿîrô*: preposition *bə* + noun, feminine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - in his city
• *bəʿoprāh*: preposition *bə* + proper noun - in Ophrah
• *wayyiznû*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect, 3rd masculine plural of *zānâ* - and prostituted themselves
• *kol*-*yiśrāʾēl*: noun, masculine singular construct + proper noun - all Israel
• *ʾaḥărāyw*: preposition *ʾaḥar* + 3rd masculine singular suffix - after it
• *šām*: adverb - there
• *wayəhî*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular of *hāyâ* - and it became
• *ləgidʿôn*: preposition *lə* + proper noun - to Gideon
• *ûləbêtô*: conjunction + preposition *lə* + noun, masculine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - and to his house
• *ləmôqēš*: preposition *lə* + noun, masculine singular - as a snare

Word Meanings

• *ʾēpôd*: ephod (priestly garment/sacred object)
• *mô qēš*: snare/trap/stumbling block
• *zānâ*: prostitute oneself/be unfaithful (often used of spiritual apostasy)

Referenced Verses

• Judg 17:5 : 5 And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and family gods and put one of his sons in the position of priest.
• Judg 18:14 : 14 Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the country of Laish, said to their brothers, Have you knowledge that in these houses there is an ephod and family gods and a pictured image and a metal image? So now you see what to do.
• Judg 18:17 : 17 Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the land, went in and took the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image; and the priest was by the doorway with the six hundred armed men.
• Deut 7:16 : 16 And you are to send destruction on all the peoples which the Lord your God gives into your hands; have no pity on them, and do not give worship to their gods; for that will be a cause of sin to you.
• Ps 106:39 : 39 So they became unclean through their works, going after their evil desires.
• Judg 6:24 : 24 Then Gideon made an altar there to the Lord, and gave it the name Yahweh-shalom; to this day it is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
• Exod 23:33 : 33 Let them not go on living in your land, or they will make you do evil against me: for if you give worship to their gods, it will certainly be a cause of sin to you.
• Exod 28:6-9 : 6 And make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, the work of a designer. 7 It is to have two bands stitched to it at the top of the arms, joining it together. 8 And the beautifully worked band, which goes on it, is to be of the same work and the same material, of gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work. 9 You are to take two beryl stones, on which the names of the children of Israel are to be cut: 10 Six names on the one stone and six on the other, in the order of their birth. 11 With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. 12 And the two stones are to be placed on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel: Aaron will have their names on his arms when he goes in before the Lord, to keep the Lord in mind of them. 13 And you are to make twisted frames of gold; 14 And two chains of the best gold, twisted like cords; and have the chains fixed on to the frames. 15 And make a priest's bag for giving decisions, designed like the ephod, made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen. 16 It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide. 17 And on it you are to put four lines of jewels; the first line is to be a cornelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald; 18 The second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx; 19 The third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 The fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. 21 The jewels are to be twelve in number, for the names of the children of Israel; every jewel having the name of one of the twelve tribes cut on it as on a stamp. 22 And you are to make two chains of gold, twisted like cords, to be fixed to the priest's bag. 23 And put two gold rings on the two ends of the bag. 24 Put the two gold chains on the two rings at the ends of the bag; 25 Joining the other ends of the chains to the gold frames and putting them on the front of the ephod, at the top of the arms. 26 Then make two gold rings and put them on the lower ends of the bag, at the edge of it on the inner side nearest to the ephod. 27 And make two more gold rings and put them on the front of the ephod at the top of the arms, at the join, over the worked band: 28 So that the rings on the bag may be fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord and on to the band of the ephod, so that the bag may not come loose from the ephod. 29 And so Aaron will have the names of the children of Israel on the priest's bag over his heart whenever he goes into the holy place, to keep the memory of them before the Lord. 30 And in the bag you are to put the Urim and Thummim, so that they may be on Aaron's heart whenever he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron may have the power of making decisions for the children of Israel before the Lord at all times. 31 The robe which goes with the ephod is to be made all of blue; 32 With a hole at the top, in the middle of it; the hole is to be edged with a band to make it strong like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, so that it may not be broken open. 33 And round the skirts of it put fruits in blue and purple and red, with bells of gold between; 34 A gold bell and a fruit in turn all round the skirts of the robe. 35 Aaron is to put it on for his holy work; and the sound of it will be clear, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, keeping him safe from death.
• Deut 12:5 : 5 But let your hearts be turned to the place which will be marked out by the Lord your God, among your tribes, to put his name there;
• Judg 6:11 : 11 Now the angel of the Lord came and took his seat under the oak-tree in Ophrah, in the field of Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was crushing grain in the place where the grapes were crushed, so that the Midianites might not see it.
• 1 Sam 23:9-9 : 9 And it was clear to David that Saul had evil designs against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, Come here with the ephod. 10 Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, news has been given to your servant that it is Saul's purpose to come to Keilah and send destruction on the town because of me.
• Ps 73:27 : 27 For those who are far away from you will come to destruction: you will put an end to all those who have not kept faith with you.
• Judg 8:32-33 : 32 And Gideon, the son of Joash, came to his end when he was very old, and his body was put in the resting-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 And after the death of Gideon, the children of Israel again went after the gods of Canaan and were false to the Lord, and made Baal-berith their god.
• Isa 8:20 : 20 Then say to them, Put your faith in the teaching and the witness. ... If they do not say such things. ... For him there is no dawn. ...
• Hos 2:2 : 2 Take up the cause against your mother, take it up, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; let her put away her loose ways from her face, and her false ways from between her breasts;
• Hos 4:12-14 : 12 My people get knowledge from their tree, and their rod gives them news; for a false spirit is the cause of their wandering, and they have been false to their God. 13 They make offerings on the tops of mountains, burning perfumes in high places, under trees of every sort, because their shade is good: and so your daughters are given up to loose ways and your brides are false to their husbands. 14 I will not give punishment to your daughters or your brides for their evil behaviour; for they make themselves separate with loose women, and make offerings with those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: the people who have no wisdom will be sent away.