Judges 8:27-29

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

²⁷And Gideon made an ephod [a sacred, high priest’s garment] of it, and put it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel paid homage to it there, and ^[a]it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.

²⁸Thus was Midian subdued before the Israelites so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had peace and rest for forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹Jerubbaal (Gideon) son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Judges 8:27 The gold and purple of the spoil enabled Gideon to make an ephod, presumably on the pattern of that described in Exod. 28. It was not exactly an idol but a kind of fetish, and it diverted the thoughts of the people from Shiloh and the spiritual worship of the unseen and eternal God. So apt is the human heart to cling to some outward emblem—it may be a crucifix, a wafer, or a church—and miss that worship in spirit and in truth which the Father seeks (John 4:23) (F. B. Meyer, Devotional Commentary on Joshua—II Kings).