Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor …: Now renders well the Hebrew waw conjunction here. “In the meantime” is another good connector to tie this unit to what precedes. New Living Translation is similar with “By this time.” Zebah and Zalmunna have been mentioned before (verse 8.5-7). However, since this is a new episode, it may be helpful to say “the two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna” or “the two enemy kings….” These kings fled with their troops to Karkor, a city about 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of the Dead Sea. Certainly this city was in Midianite territory, but it was a long way from where the previous action took place. In Karkor is literally “in the Karkor,” which probably refers to the desert region around Karkor. Some languages may prefer to say “in the desert region of Karkor.”

With their army, about fifteen thousand men: Their army is literally “their camp” (see verse 7.1). We can say “their troops,” “their soldiers,” or even “their men.” About renders a Hebrew preposition that often means “like” or “as,” but here it means “approximately” or “around.” Translators may prefer to render fifteen thousand as a figure (“15,000”) rather citing the words. For the Hebrew word rendered thousand, see verse 1.4. This word can sometimes refer to a military unit, rather than to the actual number.

All who were left of all the army of the people of the East qualifies the 15,000 Midianites. This information connects back to the incident reported in verse 7.15-23. After Gideon’s surprise attack, only a portion of the Midianite army remained. The repetition of the word all emphasizes that the enemy army was strong, but also that the massacre was great. Once again army is literally “camp.” For the people of the East, see the comments on verse 6.3. If the repetition of all is not acceptable, there may be other ways to express this clause, for example, “the only ones who were left of the whole army from the eastern desert.” Revised English Bible begins a new sentence here, saying “Those were all that remained of the entire host of the eastern tribes.” Good News Translation combines this clause with the number fifteen thousand, saying “Of the whole army of desert tribesmen, only about 15,000 were left.”

For there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword is literally “and those who had fallen [were] a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword.” For, which renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, introduces the reason so few enemy soldiers were left. Contemporary English Version uses the connector “because.” Fallen renders the same Hebrew verb (nafal) that is used to describe the deaths of King Eglon (verse 3.25) and General Sisera (verse 4.22; verse 5.27). It is a euphemistic way in Hebrew to speak of those who died. Translators can use a similar figurative expression, or they can use a nonfigurative verb, such as “killed” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) or “slain” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In English the past perfect verb had fallen shows that this event occurred prior to the present story line. Translators should use verbal tenses or aspects that are appropriate to this context. A hundred and twenty thousand may be rendered “120,000” (Good News Translation) or “120 military units” (see the comments above). Men who drew the sword refers to soldiers who were capable of drawing a sword from its scabbard and using it. Here this phrase is a figurative expression used to refer to any soldiers who were armed and ready for battle. It occurs frequently in the last major section of this book (verse 20.2, 15, 17, 25, 35, 46). It may be rendered “men who carried weapons,” “armed men,” “fighting men” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or simply “warriors” (Contemporary English Version).

Translation models for this verse are:

• In the meantime, the Midianite kings Zebah and Zalmunna, along with their army, were in the region of Karkor. One hundred twenty groups of soldiers had already died in the battle. Only fifteen groups of soldiers from the tribes of the eastern desert were left.

• Now Zebah and Zalmunna and their 15,000 soldiers were in Karkor. They were all that was left of the army of the eastern tribes, because 120,000 of their warriors had been killed in the battle.

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 .