And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was …: In Hebrew this verse begins with the word wayehi rendered And (literally “And it was”), which seems to mark an important “aside.” The amount of gold and other goods amassed shows how great the Israelite victory was. Many versions leave this introductory word untranslated. Some languages may have a special particle to mark such an aside, which sums up the spoils of war in a general way. They might say “Now, the weight of the golden earrings….”
The golden earrings that he requested refers to Gideon’s request in verse 8.24. Obviously if each of the 300 men gave even one gold earring, the weight and worth of the pile of gold would be considerable. In some languages it may be more natural to speak of “the gold earrings that Gideon received.”
One thousand seven hundred shekels of gold: The number here is impressive and probably symbolic. The number thousand is frequently used in this book, and the number seven is a very important one in the Gideon story (verse 6.1, 25; verse 8.14). The Hebrew reads literally “one thousand and seven hundred gold.” The word for shekels does not appear in the text but is assumed and made explicit in Revised Standard Version and several other versions (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The term is used later in this book (verse 9.4) and so can probably be assumed here. In Israel the shekel was of two types, one light and the other heavy. If the lighter shekel is used here as a measure, then the total weight of one thousand seven hundred shekels would be about 20 kilograms or 44 pounds. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version say “over forty pounds,” and Bible en français courant has “almost twenty kilograms,” thus avoiding the word shekels here. Most translations include a table of weights and measures used in the Bible, but modern equivalents in the text make for easier reading. As is true today, gold was considered the most precious metal, so this represents an incredible amount of money.
Besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian: Besides renders a Hebrew expression made up of three separate words (“to,” “part,” and “from”) that combine to convey the idea of “apart from,” “not to mention,” “without counting.” This means that the first sum is to be taken on its own, and the following items are additional. We might say “in addition to.” In some languages translators may need to begin a new sentence by saying “That does not include…” or “Along with the gold, they took/confiscated….” In this context the crescents may refer to the expensive jewelry taken from the camels of the Midianite kings (verse 8.21) or to the jewelry worn by these kings. The Hebrew text here is ambiguous. The Hebrew word for pendants probably refers to something that hangs around the neck. However, this term only occurs here and Isa 3.19, so its exact meaning is uncertain. Good News Translation renders the crescents and the pendants as “the ornaments, necklaces.” In some languages one word can cover both items. Contemporary English Version says that these crescents and pendants were made of gold, but this is not necessarily the case. Purple garments worn by the kings of Midian refers to the clothes worn by these kings. Purple is the color typically associated with royalty. However, in many cultures there is no word for purple or this color is not associated with kings, so translators may prefer to render purple garments as “expensive clothes.” Garments renders a very general Hebrew term (beged), referring to all kinds of clothing. It is not the same word rendered “garment” in the previous verse, which refers specifically to the outer cloth people used to wrap around themselves. This word will reappear in the story of Samson, where he promises sets of clothing to anyone who can solve his riddle (verse 14.12-13). Worn by the kings of Midian may refer to all three preceding items (the crescents, the pendants, and the purple garments) or simply to the last one. Worn by is literally “which on.” This clause may be rendered “that the Midianite kings wore.”
And besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels: Besides renders the same Hebrew expression noted above. Collars renders another Hebrew word for necklaces. It is hard to know if collars is an inclusio referring to the crescents mentioned above or whether this is a new item. Here the narrator makes it clear that these collars were around the necks of camels. In many languages it will be difficult to find separate words for all these different types of necklaces, and one term may have to be used throughout the text. For camels see verse 6.5.
Translation models for this verse are:
• The gold earrings Gideon received weighed around twenty kilograms. That does not include the half-moon ornaments, the necklaces, and the purple clothes the Midianite kings wore, nor the neck ornaments of their camels.
• The weight of the gold in the earrings Gideon obtained was over 40 pounds, without counting the Midianite kings’ crescents, pendants, and expensive clothes, as well as the expensive ornaments their camels wore around their necks.
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 .