Judges 8:18
New International Version
Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

New Living Translation
Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Tabor—what were they like?” “Like you,” they replied. “They all had the look of a king’s son.”

English Standard Version
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.”

Berean Standard Bible
Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” So they answered, “As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king.”

New American Standard Bible
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where were the men whom you killed at Tabor?” But they said, “You and they were alike, each one resembling the son of a king.”

NASB 1995
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you, each one resembling the son of a king.”

NASB 1977
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you, each one resembling the son of a king.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you, each one resembling the son of a king.”

Amplified Bible
Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they replied, “They were like you, each one of them resembled the son of a king.”

Christian Standard Bible
He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor? ” “They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?"” They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he said to Zebakh and to Tsalmenna: “What kind were the men whom you killed at Tabur?”And they were saying to him: “They were like you, like the appearance of the sons of Kings!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he said to Zebee and Salmana, Where are the men whom ye slew in Thabor? and they said, As thou, so were they, according to the likeness of the son of a king.

Contemporary English Version
Then Gideon said, "Zebah and Zalmunna, tell me about the men you killed at Tabor." "They were a lot like you," the two kings answered. "They were dignified, almost like royalty."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were they whom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee, and one of them as the son of a king.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?" They answered, "They were like you. Each one looked like a king's son."

Good News Translation
Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What about the men you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "They looked like you--every one of them like the son of a king."

International Standard Version
Afterwards, he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What were the men like whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "Like you, each one like the son of a king…"

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna: 'Where are the men whom ye slew at Tabor?' And they answered: 'As thou art, so were they; of one form with the children of a king.'

Literal Standard Version
And he says to Zebah and to Zalmunna, “What manner of men [were they] whom you slew in Tabor?” And they say, “As you—so they, [each] one as the form of the king’s sons.”

Majority Standard Bible
Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”

New American Bible
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What about the men you killed at Tabor?” “They were all like you,” they replied. “They appeared to be princes.”

NET Bible
He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "Describe for me the men you killed at Tabor." They said, "They were like you. Each one looked like a king's son."

New Revised Standard Version
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What about the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king.”

New Heart English Bible
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king."

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said he to 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.

World English Bible
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “They were like you. They all resembled the children of a king.”

Young's Literal Translation
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.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna
17He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. 18Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.” 19“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”…

Cross References
Judges 8:5
So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, "Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

Judges 8:17
He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

Judges 8:19
"They were my brothers," Gideon replied, "the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you."


Treasury of Scripture

Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? And they answered, As you are, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.

Tabor

Judges 4:6
And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

Psalm 89:12
The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

as thou art

Psalm 12:2
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

Jude 1:16
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

resembled.

Jump to Previous
Bearing Children Death Kill Killed Kind King's Manner Prince Resembled Resembling Slew Tabor Zalmunna Zalmun'na Zebah
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Bearing Children Death Kill Killed Kind King's Manner Prince Resembled Resembling Slew Tabor Zalmunna Zalmun'na Zebah
Judges 8
1. Gideon pacifies the Ephraimites
4. Succoth and Penuel refuse to deliver Gideon's army
10. Zebah and Zalmunna are taken
13. Succoth and Penuel are destroyed
17. Gideon revenges his brothers's death on Zebah and Zalmunna
22. He refuses government
24. His ephod the cause of idolatry
28. Midian subdued
29. Gideon's children, and death
33. The Israelites' idolatry and ingratitude














(18) Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna.--They had been kept alive in order to answer the cowardly taunt of the elders of Succoth. There is nothing to show whether they were put to death at Succoth, as Josephus says, or taken to Ophrah (Antt. iv. 7, ? 5). Perhaps Gideon reserved their death for the place where he had once lived with his brothers, whom they had slain.

What manner of men were they.--Literally, where (are) the men? Evidently this colloquy is only related in a shortened form, and Gideon's enquiry is rather a taunt or an expression of grief (Job 17:15), to show them that he now meant to act as the goel, or blood-avenger of his brothers. Up till this time these great chiefs seem to have been led in triumph on their camels, in all their splendid apparel and golden ornaments; and they may have thought, with Agag, that the bitterness of death was passed.

Whom ye slew at Tabor?--We are left completely in the dark as to the circumstances of this battle, or massacre. In the complete uncertainty as to all the details of the chronology, it is not impossible that Gideon's brothers--at least three or four in number--may have perished in Barak's "battle of Mount Tabor," or in some early struggle of this Midianite invasion, or in the first night battle (Judges 7:22).

As thou . . . so they.--A similar phrase occurs in 1Kings 22:4.

Resembled the children of a king.--We learn from this reference that Gideon added to his other gifts that tall, commanding presence which always carried weight in early days (1Samuel 10:24; 1Samuel 16:6-7). In Iliad, iii. 170, Priam says: "One so fair I never saw with my eyes, nor so stately, for he is like a king" (??????? ??? ????? ??????). . . .

Verse 18. - What manner of men, etc. An incident not before related is here brought to light, viz., that on some unknown occasion, possibly as soon as the rising of the Israelites under Gideon became known, or when, as related in Judges 6:2, they had sought to hide themselves in Mount Tabor, but had been caught, Zebah and Zalmunna had put to death Gideon's brothers. We may observe in passing how characteristic this is of a true narrative in which every. thing that happened cannot possibly be related (see Judges 10:11, 12, note). The word here rendered what manner of, i.e. of what sort, means, in every other place in which it occurs, where? and the sense of what sort is only inferred from the answer, As thou art, so were they. But it is not safe thus to change the universal meaning of a common word. It is better to take the words of Gideon, Where are the men whom ye slew at Tabor? as an upbraiding of them for the murder of his brethren, and a threat that where they were their murderers would soon be. The answer of Zebah and Zalmunna, which is not given in its entirety, was no doubt intended to be soothing and deprecatory of Gideon's wrath. They pleaded the necessity they were under in self-defence to slay them; they were men of such royal stature and prowess that their own lives would have been in danger had they spared them. But Gideon turned a deaf ear to their plea. He must avenge the death of his own brothers, his own mother's sons. He would have spared them as prisoners of war (2 Kings 6:22), but he must do his part as goel or avenger (Numbers 35:12). Observe the stress laid on their being not merely his father's sons by another wife, but his own mother's sons, a much more tender relation (cf. Psalm 50:0).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Next, [Gideon] asked
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

Zebah
זֶ֙בַח֙ (ze·ḇaḥ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 2078: Zebah -- a Midianite king

and Zalmunna,
צַלְמֻנָּ֔ע (ṣal·mun·nā‘)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6759: Zalmunna -- a king of Midian

“What kind
אֵיפֹה֙ (’ê·p̄ōh)
Interrogative
Strong's 375: What place?, when?, how?

of men
הָאֲנָשִׁ֔ים (hā·’ă·nā·šîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

did you kill
הֲרַגְתֶּ֖ם (hă·raḡ·tem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 2026: To smite with deadly intent

at Tabor?”
בְּתָב֑וֹר (bə·ṯā·ḇō·wr)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 8396: Tabor -- a mountain Southwest of the Sea of Galilee

“Men like you,”
כָּמ֣וֹךָ (kā·mō·w·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3644: Like, as, when

they answered,
וַֽיֹּאמרוּ֙‪‬‪‬‪‬ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“[each] one
אֶחָ֕ד (’e·ḥāḏ)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

resembling
כְּתֹ֖אַר (kə·ṯō·’ar)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8389: Outline, figure, appearance

the son
בְּנֵ֥י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of a king.”
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (ham·me·leḵ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king


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OT History: Judges 8:18 Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 8:17
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