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In the Hebrew version of Judges, Gideon repays the leaders of Succoth with desert thorns, saying he taught them a lesson. The Greek Septuagint instead says that he threshed them, carrying out his earlier vow to thresh their flesh with thorns and briers.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Judges 8:16
Hebrew Bible
15 He approached the men of Sukkoth and said, “Look what I have! Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” 16 He seized the leaders of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then taught the men of Sukkoth* with them. 17 He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city’s men.
LXX Judges 8:16
Septuagint
15 And Gideon came to the rulers of Succoth and said, “Look, Zebah and Zalmunna, in whom you reproached me, when you said, ‘Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to the men who faint?’ ” 16 And he took the elders of the city into the thorns of the wilderness and the briers and in them threshed the men of the city. 17 Also the tower of Penuel he overturned and slew the men of that city.
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Notes and References
... harrowed with them the men of Succoth. Given that he goes on to kill the elders of Penuel, we may infer that the same fatal result is achieved at Succoth by the harrowing—a slow and painful death. In the Masoretic Text, the verb used appears to mean “cause to know” (hence the bizarre King James Version, in which Gideon “taught” the elders with thorns and thistle). The Septuagint shows “harrowed” (a difference of one consonant in the Hebrew), which is the likely reading. ...
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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