Judges 8:16

“And he took the elders of the city, etc.] All of them, especially those of them who had been most guilty, and had them to a proper place, where they might be made public examples of: and thorns of the wilderness, and briers; which were near at hand, and soon cut up, for which he gave orders to proper persons: and with them he taught the men of Succoth; either the inhabitants of the place, as distinct from the elders, whose punishment he taught them to be cautious not to follow such examples, or to behave ill to their superiors; or the princes and elders of the city are meant by the men of it, whom Gideon taught or chastised with thorns and briers; and so it is usual with us for a parent or…”

“he took . . . the thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth--By refusing his soldiers refreshment, they had committed a public crime, as well as an act of inhumanity, and were subjected to a horrible punishment, which the great abundance and remarkable size of the thorn bushes, together with the thinness of clothing in the East, has probably suggested.”

“He taught - Thought to be a false reading, for “he threshed,” as in Judges 8:7 margin. return to 'Top of Page'”

“the elders: Jdg 8:7; Pro 10:13, Pro 19:29; Ezr 2:6 thorns: Mic 7:4 taught: Heb. made to know, Instead of wyyoda, Houbigant, Lev. Clerc, and others read wyyadosh, "and he tore or threshed;" and this is not only agreeable to what Gideon threatened ( Jdg 8:7), but is supported by the LXX Vulgate, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Hebrew Text might easily have been corrupted simply by the change of שׁ, shin, into ע, ayin, letters very similar to each other. Judges 8:17”