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Judges 8 Bible study: The LORD shall rule over you
Gideon told Israel, "The LORD shall rule over you" (8:23), and in the very next verse asked for the gold that became an ephod and "a snare to Gideon and to his house" (8:27), the word Judges first used of the nations' gods (2:3). The land's forty years of rest in his days (8:28) are the last rest the book records.
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“Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. The LORD shall rule over you.””
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Judges 8, Gideon asks for the gold earrings in the verse right after he refuses to rule over Israel.”
Is that in Judges 8, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Rule over us
After the battle "the men of Israel said to Gideon" (8:22), "Rule over us, both you, your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian" (8:22). They ask for more than one man: a line of rulers, father, son and grandson. Gideon answers with the same verb three times: "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. The LORD shall rule over you" (8:23) (tap rule). Their reason was "you have saved us" (8:22) (tap saved). Before the battle the LORD had cut the army down "lest Israel brag against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’" (7:2). One chapter on, the same verb comes back, and now the men of Israel give the saving to Gideon. His answer gives the rule back to the LORD.
Where it leads to Jesus
One is your master
Judges 8:23leads toMatthew 23:10
The men of Israel say, "Rule over us" (8:22), and Gideon answers, "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. The LORD shall rule over you" (8:23). Jesus told the multitudes and his disciples, "you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers" (Matthew 23:8), and "Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ" (Matthew 23:10). Jesus doesn't cite Judges 8, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some hear the same turn in both: the one people would set over them points them to the One who rules. Others read each in its own setting: Gideon answers an offer to rule after a victory, and the chapter goes on to his ephod (8:27); Jesus is speaking of the scribes and Pharisees, who love "to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men" (Matthew 23:7).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Judges 8
That was a taste
The rest of Judges 8 is waiting in Favor
- Gold, an ephod and a snare
- As soon as Gideon was dead
- Ephraim, twice
- Succoth and Penuel, in Jacob's story
- Midianites, and Ishmaelites
- When the LORD was king
- 17 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
מָשַׁלmashalsay ma-SHAL
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "rule, have dominion, reign". Strong's: "to rule (have, make to have) dominion". The men of Israel say, "Rule over us" (8:22), and Gideon answers with the verb three times: "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. The LORD shall rule over you" (8:23). Judges uses it eight times: four here; twice in Abimelech's question, "that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you" (9:2); and of the Philistines, who "ruled over Israel" (14:4) and were "rulers over us" (15:11). It is the verb of Joseph's brothers: "Will you indeed have dominion over us?" (Genesis 37:8).
For your group
Judges 8 Bible study questions
- 1Gideon turned away Ephraim's anger by honoring what they had done (8:1-3). Is there someone whose anger you could answer that way this week? What would you say?
- 2The men of Israel told Gideon, "you have saved us" (8:22), and he pointed them to the LORD (8:23). When something good happens through you, how do you handle the credit people give you?
- 3Gideon's ephod "became a snare to Gideon and to his house" (8:27). What good thing in your life could become a snare, and how would you know?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Judges 8 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home