Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 8:26

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that [was] on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that [were] about their camels’ necks.

26. And the weight etc.] 1700 shekels of gold by the heavy standard = nearly 75 lbs. Troy = 3485, or by the light standard = nearly 37 lbs. Troy = 742 10 s. A single ring might weigh half a shekel, Gen 24:22.

beside the crescents necks ] The sentence interrupts the account of the ephod, and looks like a later addition. Pendants (Heb. nefth from naaf ‘to drop’) were perhaps single beads or gems attached to the lobe of the ear, cf. Arab. naafat ‘a small clear pearl’; the Verss. understood some kind of necklace, so AV. collars; some Jewish interpreters think of small boxes containing fragrant gum ( nf ‘stacte,’ Exo 30:34), hence AVm. sweet jewels. For chains render necklaces, Son 4:9, Pro 1:9, contrast the crescents in Jdg 8:21.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

If the Ishmaelite nose-rings were half a shekel in weight, then 1,700 shekels weight of gold implied that 3,400 persons wearing, gold rings had been slain. The collars were rather ear-drops.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 26. The weight of the golden ear-rings – was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold] Taking the shekel at half an ounce weight, the sum of the gold collected in ear-rings was seventy pounds ten ounces; and worth, as gold now rates, about 3,100 sterling.

This computation of the weight of the golden ear-rings, taken from the slaughtered Ishmaelites, will bring to the reader’s mind the slaughter of the Roman knights by the Carthaginians at the battle of Cannae, from whose spoils Hannibal sent three bushels of gold rings to the city of Carthage!

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

26. ornamentscrescent-likeplates of gold suspended from the necks, or placed on the breasts ofthe camels.

collarsrather,”earrings,” or drops of gold or pearl.

purplea royal color.The ancient, as well as modern Arabs, adorned the necks, breasts, andlegs, of their riding animals with sumptuous housing.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the weight of the golden earrings he requested was one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold,…. Which, as Schcuchzer e computes, was eight hundred and ten ounces, five drachms, one scruple, and ten grains, of the weight of physicians; but as reckoned by Moatanus f amounted to eight hundred and fifty ounces, and were of the value of 6800 crowns of gold; and, according to Waserus g, it amounted to 3400 Hungarian pieces of gold, and of their money at Zurich upwards of 15,413 pounds, and of our money 2,380 pounds:

besides ornaments; such as were upon the necks of the camels, Jud 8:21 for the same word is used here as there:

and collars; the Targum renders it a crown, and Ben Melech says in the Arabic language the word signifies clear crystal; but Kimchi and Ben Gersom take them to be golden vessels, in which they put “stacte”, or some odoriferous liquor, and so were properly smelling bottles:

and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian; which it seems was the colour that kings wore, as they now do; so Strabo h says of the kings of Arabia, that they are clothed in purple:

and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks; which seem to be different from the other ornaments about them, since another word is here used; now all these seem to have been what fell to his share, as the general of the army, and not what were given him by the people.

e Physica Sacra, vol. 3. p. 468. f Tubal Cain, p. 15. g De Numis. Heb. l. 2. c. 10. h Geograph. l. 16. p. 539.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(26) A thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold.About seventy pounds of gold. This would imply a very large number of nose-rings or earrings (Gen. 24:22), and therefore a slaughter of many leading Midianites. It is analogous to the three bushels of knights rings which Mago carried to Carthage, and emptied upon the floor of the Carthaginian Senate, after the massacre of the Romans at Cannae (Liv. xxiii. 12).

Beside ornaments.Rather, beside the golden crescents (Jdg. 8:21). Gideon seems to have gratified his love of vengeance, as goel, before he thought of booty.

And collars.Marg., sweet jewels. Rather, and the eardrops (netiphoth, Isa. 3:19). Wellsted, in his Travels in Arabia, says that the Arab women are accustomed to load themselves and their children with earrings and ornaments, of which he sometimes counted as many as fifteen on each side.

Purple raiment.Comp. Exo. 25:4.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

26. A thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold About seventy pounds, Troy weight.

Ornaments Note, Jdg 8:21.

Collars Rather, pendants; probably some sort of drops suspended from the earrings.

Purple raiment A costly article among the Orientals, and such as only the rich and great might wear.

Chains Neck ornaments or collars. “Even at the present day the Arabs are accustomed to ornament the necks of their camels with a band of cloth or leather, upon which small shells are strung in the form of a crescent. The sheiks add silver ornaments to these, which make a rich booty in time of war. The women in Oman spend considerable amounts in the purchase of silver ornaments, and their children are literally laden with them. I have sometimes counted fifteen earrings upon each side; and the head, breast, arms, and ankles are adorned with the same profusion.” Wellsted in Keil.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments