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24 But I will ask you to do one thing: Give me all the earrings you took from the enemy.”

The enemy soldiers had been Ishmaelites,[a] and they wore gold earrings.

25 The Israelite soldiers replied, “Of course we will give you the earrings.” Then they spread out a robe on the ground and tossed the earrings on it. 26 The total weight of this gold was nearly 20 kilograms. In addition, there was the gold from the camels' ornaments and from the beautiful jewelry worn by the Midianite kings. Gideon also took their purple robes.

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Footnotes

  1. 8.24 Ishmaelites: According to Genesis 25.1,2, 12, both Ishmaelites and Midianites were descendants of Abraham. It is possible that in this passage “Ishmaelites” has the meaning “nomadic traders,” while “Midianites” (verses 22,26-29) refers to their ethnic origin.

24 And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring(A) from your share of the plunder.(B)” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites(C) to wear gold earrings.)

25 They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels,[a] not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains(D) that were on their camels’ necks.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:26 That is, about 43 pounds or about 20 kilograms