What Does Judges 8:27 Mean in the King James?
And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
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 ephod draws Israel’s devotion, then becomes a snare that catches its maker too.
THE MEANING
A thing given sacred form can gather devotion until the maker’s own creation becomes a trap. The language of whoring describes Israel’s attachment as intimate and unfaithful, not casual interest. The snare reaches Gideon’s household as well as the people who pursue the ephod.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A religious object cannot become destructive because it began as a sacred symbol.
THE ROOT
מוֹקֵשׁ
moqesh
GROWS FROM
יקשׁ
y-q-sh
To set a trap or catch by means of a snare.
The snare is more than a danger lying nearby: it is a thing that catches what comes after it. Here the object Israel pursues is itself the trap, and its reach includes the person who made it.
ALSO GROWS
yaqush: Fowler or trapper.
יָקוּשׁ
The related word names the one who catches; together, trapper and snare reveal the mechanism behind the ephod’s pull.
moqesh: Snare or trap.
מוֹקֵשׁ
This is the same word used in the verse: what Israel pursues becomes the thing that ensnares Gideon and his household.
וַיִּזְנוּ
vayyiznu
GROWS FROM
זנה
z-n-h
To act as a prostitute or be sexually unfaithful.
“went a whoring” in this verse is vayyiznu. The verb gives Israel’s pursuit the force of intimate betrayal. The attachment to the ephod is presented as a bond that displaces another allegiance, exposing how devotion itself can become disordered.
ALSO GROWS
zonah: Prostitute.
זֹנָה
This noun makes the verse’s sexual image explicit: the pursuit is framed as unfaithfulness.
zenunim: Whoredoms or acts of sexual unfaithfulness.
זְנוּנִים
This related form shows the same root describing repeated or sustained unfaithfulness, deepening the sense of Israel’s attachment.
THE PATTERN
When devotion shifts to a made object, the thing served can become a trap for those who serve it.
They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.THE THREAD
They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.Judges 8:27 and Exodus 23:33 use the same Hebrew word, מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, snare). Exodus names the structure as a warning; Judges shows the snare reaching both the people who pursue the object and the person who made it.
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