Judges 8:13

THE MESSAGE

Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by way of the Heres Pass. He captured a young man from Succoth and asked some questions. The young man wrote down the names of the officials and leaders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. Then Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are the wild geese, Zebah and Zalmunna, you said I'd never catch. You wouldn't give so much as a scrap of bread to my worn-out men; you taunted us, saying that we were on a fool's errand."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres.

Hebrew Names Version
Gid`on the son of Yo'ash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

King James Version
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up,

Lexham English Bible
Then Gideon son of Jehoash returned from the battle by way of the ascent of Heres.

English Standard Version
Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.

New Century Version
Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.

New English Translation
Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass of Heres.

Amplified Bible
Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.

New American Standard Bible
Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.

Geneva Bible (1587)
So Gideon the sonne of Ioash returned from battel, the sunne being yet hie,

Legacy Standard Bible
wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.

Contemporary English Version
After the battle, Gideon set out for home. As he was going through Heres Pass,

Complete Jewish Bible
When Gid‘on the son of Yo'ash returned from the battle by way of the Heres Pass,

Darby Translation
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle, from the ascent of Heres.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle. He and his men returned by going through a mountain pass called the Pass of Heres.

George Lamsa Translation
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle at the slope of Hadas.

Good News Translation
When Gideon was returning from the battle by way of Heres Pass,

Literal Translation
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle, at the ascent of Mount Heres.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now whan Gedeon ye sonne of Ioas came agayne fro the battayll out of ye east,

American Standard Version
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

Bible in Basic English
Then Gideon, the son of Joash, went back from the fight:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Gedeon the sonne of Ioas, returned from battel afore the sunne was vp,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

King James Version (1611)
And Gideon the sonne of Ioash returned from battel before the Sunne was vp,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Gedeon the son of Joas returned from the battle, down from the battle of Ares.

English Revised Version
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

Berean Standard Bible
After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he turnede ayen fro batel bifor the `risyng of the sunne,

Young's Literal Translation
And Gideon son of Joash turneth back from the battle, at the going up of the sun,

Update Bible Version
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun [had risen],

World English Bible
Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

New King James Version
Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres.

New Living Translation
After this, Gideon returned from the battle by way of Heres Pass.

New Life Bible
Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the way of Heres.

New Revised Standard
When Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle, - from the ascent of Heres;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And returning from the battle before the sun rising,

Revised Standard Version
Then Gideon the son of Jo'ash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.

Contextual Overview

⁴Gideon and his three hundred arrived at the Jordan and crossed over. They were bone-tired but still pressing the pursuit. He asked the men of Succoth, "Please, give me some loaves of bread for my troops I have with me. They're worn out, and I'm hot on the trail of Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings." ⁶ But the leaders in Succoth said, "You're on a wild goose chase; why should we help you on a fool's errand?" ⁷ Gideon said, "If you say so. But when God gives me Zebah and Zalmunna, I'll give you a thrashing, whip your bare flesh with desert thorns and thistles!" ⁸He went from there to Peniel and made the same request. The men of Peniel, like the men of Succoth, also refused. Gideon told them, "When I return safe and sound, I'll demolish this tower." ¹⁰ Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with an army of about fifteen companies, all that was left of the fighting force of the easterners—they had lost 120 companies of soldiers. ¹¹Gideon went up the caravan trail east of Nobah and Jogbehah, found and attacked the undefended camp. Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but he chased and captured the two kings of Midian. The whole camp had panicked. ¹³Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by way of the Heres Pass. He captured a young man from Succoth and asked some questions. The young man wrote down the names of the officials and leaders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. Then Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are the wild geese, Zebah and Zalmunna, you said I'd never catch. You wouldn't give so much as a scrap of bread to my worn-out men; you taunted us, saying that we were on a fool's errand." ¹⁶Then he took the seventy-seven leaders of Succoth and thrashed them with desert thorns and thistles. And he demolished the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the city.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

before: The words milmaaleh haichaires should, most probably be rendered "from the ascent of Chares;" which is the reading of the LXX Syriac, Arabic, and Houbigant. Judges 8:13

Cross-References

Genesis 7:11
It was the six-hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month that it happened: all the underground springs erupted and all the windows of Heaven were thrown open. Rain poured for forty days and forty nights.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle,.... To Penuel and Succoth, to chastise them for their ill treatment of him and his men:

before the sun was up; by which it appears that it was in the night that he fell upon the host at Karkor, which must be the night following; it could not be the same night in which he had defeated them in the valley of Jezreel; though Vatablus thinks this battle was begun and finished in one night; but there were, according to this history, so many things done after the first defeat, as sending messengers to Mount Ephraim and the Ephraimites, upon the taking the fords of Jordan, and bringing the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, expostulating with him, and his answer to them, and his stay at Succoth and Penuel; which make it more probable that the day following was spent in the pursuit, and that it was the night after that that the whole affair was finished; and before sunrise Gideon returned to Penuel and Succoth again; so Ben Gersom and Abarbinel; but according to the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, this phrase is to be rendered, "before the sunset", while it yet appeared, and was above the horizon; and so it must be in the daytime that he pursued the two kings and took them, and returned before sunset. Abendana observes the word for "sun" may be the name of a place, and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions call it the ascent of Ares or Heres; as if it was the name of the place from whence Gideon returned, so called in like manner as the ascent of Akrabbim, and the like.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Before the sun was up - The translation of the words is doubtful, because of the rarity of the word rendered “sun” (חרס cheres). Many suppose it to be the name of a mountain pass, and render it from the ascent of Heres.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 8:13. Returned from battle before the sun was up] This does not appear to be a proper translation of מלמעלה החרס milmaaleh hechares. It should be rendered from the ascent of Chares: this is the reading of the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Arabic.