What Does Judges 8:18 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The answer makes resemblance a revelation of kinship: the men looked like Gideon, and the next verse names them as his brothers.
THE MEANING
The reply turns visible likeness into recognition: the slain men are described as like Gideon and like royal sons. The question shifts from what they looked like to the family bond beneath that likeness; the next verse names them as his brothers. Their resemblance does not soften the killing, it makes it intimate.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Resemblance is only a surface detail; here it opens onto blood relation, as the next verse reveals that the slain men are Gideon’s brothers.
THE ROOT
כְּתֹאַר
kəto'ar
GROWS FROM
ת־א־ר
t-ʾ-r
to mark out or delineate a form; an outline or appearance
“resembled” in this verse is kəto'ar. The Hebrew describes them as being like the form or outline of royal sons. The same root can describe marking out a boundary, so likeness here has the sense of a visible contour that makes kinship recognizable before Gideon names it.
ALSO GROWS
to'ar: form, outline, appearance
תֹּאַר
This noun gives the comparison its concrete sense of a recognizable shape.
ta'ar: to mark or describe a boundary
תָּאַר
The shared root links resemblance with tracing a visible outline.
בְּנֵי
benei
GROWS FROM
ב־נ־ה
b-n-h
to build or establish
The word for sons belongs to the root meaning build. “Children of a king” therefore evokes a continuing household; the men’s royal likeness points toward lineage, while Gideon’s next words reveal their actual kinship to him.
ALSO GROWS
ben: son, child
בֵּן
The verse’s “children” are members of a family line.
banah: build, establish
בָּנָה
The shared root connects sons with the building and continuation of a household.
זֶבַח
zevaḥ
GROWS FROM
ז־ב־ח
z-b-ḥ
to slaughter, especially in sacrifice
Zebah’s name is the Hebrew noun for a slaughtered offering, from the root for slaughtering in sacrifice. In a verse about men already slain, the name carries killing and sacrifice within the same word-family.
ALSO GROWS
zavaḥ: slaughter or offer in sacrifice
זָבַח
The verb shares the root embedded in Zebah’s name.
mizbeaḥ: altar
מִזְבֵּחַ
The altar belongs to the same root-family of sacrificial slaughter.
THE PATTERN
A likeness can disclose kinship before the relationship is spoken aloud.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.THE THREAD
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.Gideon’s next line identifies the slain men as his brothers, opening the resemblance into blood kinship. The answer changes the force of the question while leaving the violence of the exchange in full view.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us