Passage

Judges 8.19

Book: Judges · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"17. And he brake down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. 18. Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king."

"19. And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as Jehovah liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you."

"20. And he said unto Jether his first-born, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. 21. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks." (Judges 8:17-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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. Each one resembled the children of a king.”"

"19. He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”"

"20. He said to Jether his firstborn, “Get up, and kill them!” But the youth didn’t draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was yet a youth. 21. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks." (Judges 8:17-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"17. And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. 18. Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. ^{resembled: Heb. according to the form, etc}"

"19. And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you."

"20. And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. 21. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks. ^{ornaments: or, ornaments like the moon}" (Judges 8:17-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"17. and the tower of Penuel he hath broken down, and slayeth the men of the city. 18. And he saith unto Zebah and unto Zalmunna, 'How, the men whom ye slew in Tabor?' and they say, 'As thou, so they, one, as the form of the king's sons.'"

"19. And he saith, 'My brethren, sons of my mother, they; Jehovah liveth, if ye had kept them alive, I had not slain you.'"

"20. And he saith to Jether his first-born, 'Rise, slay them;' and the young man hath not drawn his sword, for he hath been afraid, for he [is] yet a youth. 21. And Zebah saith, also Zalmunna, 'Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man, his might;' and Gideon riseth, and slayeth Zebah and Zalmunna, and taketh their round ornaments which [are] on the necks of their camels." (Judges 8:17-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

H2416 - chay

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.