And from there he went up to Penuel: Gideon leaves Succoth and goes to the town of Penuel. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be better translated “Then,” “Next,” or “After that.” The adverb there refers to Succoth, so Contemporary English Version begins this verse with “After leaving Succoth….” The Hebrew verb rendered went up (ʿalah) can refer to upward movement, but it can also mean “attack” or “fight against” (see comments on verse 1.1). Here it simply means “went” (Contemporary English Version). However, the use of this verb seems to prefigure the final chapters of the book, which describe a civil war between the tribes of Israel. According to Gen 32.22-32, Penuel was another town on the Jabbok River like Succoth, but further from the Jordan River. Penuel is spelled “Peniel” in Gen 32.30, so New International Version has “Peniel” here. It is better to use a single spelling for the name of this town throughout the Old Testament, either Penuel (so Bible en français courant) or “Peniel.”

And spoke to them in the same way: The subject of the verb spoke is Gideon. It renders the same Hebrew verb (dabar) translated “said” in verse 8.3. Because Gideon is asking for food, here it may be rendered “asked” or “requested.” The pronoun them refers to the inhabitants of Penuel, who have not been mentioned before. Spoke to them in the same way means Gideon first politely asked the people for food (see verse 8.5). Good News Translation says “made the same request of the people there.” Another possible model is “also asked the people there for some food.”

And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered: There is much repetition in these clauses, since the words men and answered occur twice. Like the people of Succoth, the people of Penuel also refused to help Gideon. The men of Penuel refers to the inhabitants of Penuel, not just its males (see comments on “the men of Succoth” at verse 8.5). However, this phrase could refer to the leaders of the town, as in Contemporary English Version. Answered does not render the generic Hebrew verb meaning “say,” but the more specific one meaning “answer” or “reply.” This whole sentence may be rendered “But the people of Penuel refused to give him and his men food, just as the people of Succoth had done” or “But just as the people of Succoth had done, the people of Penuel refused to give Gideon and his troops anything to eat.”

New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh gives a good model for this verse:

• From there he went up to Penuel and made the same request of them, but the people of Penuel gave him the same reply as the people of Succoth.

Another possible model is:

• Then Gideon went to the town of Penuel and asked the people there to give him and his troops food, but like the people of Succoth, they too refused.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .