Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026
Wednesday in Easter Week
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

New Century Version

Judges 8:13

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

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Israel;   Joash;   Patriotism;   Retaliation;   Zalmunna;   Zebah;   Thompson Chain Reference - Gideon;   Jerubbaal;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Ishmaelites, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Peniel or Penuel;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Gideon;   Gilead;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Joash;   Penuel;   Succoth;   Zalmunna;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Joash;   Succoth;   Zebah;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Gideon;   Heres;   Judges, Book of;   Succoth;   Zalmunna;   Zebah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Gideon;   Heres;   Judges (1);   Levi;   Midian, Mtdianites;   Ophrah;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Joash ;   Penuel ;   Succoth ;   Zalmunna ;   Zebah ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Midian;   Succoth;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ze'bah;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Gideon;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ascent;   Astronomy;   Gideon;   Heres;   Joash (1);   Zebah and Zalmunna;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Heres;   Peniel;  

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

Contextual Overview

4 When Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan River, they were tired, but they chased the enemy across to the other side. 5 Gideon said to the men of Succoth, "Please give my soldiers some bread because they are very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." 6 But the leaders of Succoth said, "Why should we give your soldiers bread? You haven't caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet." 7 Then Gideon said, "The Lord will surrender Zebah and Zalmunna to me. After that, I will whip your skin with thorns and briers from the desert." 8 Gideon left Succoth and went to the city of Peniel and asked them for food. But the people of Peniel gave him the same answer as the people of Succoth. 9 So Gideon said to the men of Peniel, "After I win the victory, I will return and pull down this tower." 10 Zebah and Zalmunna and their army were in the city of Karkor. About fifteen thousand men were left of the armies of the peoples of the east. Already one hundred twenty thousand soldiers had been killed. 11 Gideon went up the road of those who live in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the enemy army when they did not expect it. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian, ran away, but Gideon chased and captured them and frightened away their army. 13 Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.

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
When Noah was six hundred years old, the flood started. On the seventeenth day of the second month of that year the underground springs split open, and the clouds in the sky poured out rain.

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.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile