Once again there are steps left out of the narration. In his search for revenge, Gideon moves on to the next city, Penuel. The combination of sentences in verse 8.16-17 shows that in a short period of time, Gideon takes his revenge on all those who wronged him. In some languages it may be necessary to add the implicit information, beginning this verse with “Then Gideon went to the town of Penuel….” However, such an addition should not slow down the narrative. In Hebrew, word choice and quick short sentences portray Gideon’s decisive acts of vengeance.

The message in this verse is highlighted in Hebrew since it is in chiastic form.

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 .