GIDEON revenged himself on Succoth and Penuel for trying to play both sides. The elders of Succoth had to endure a public flogging, but those of Penuel were slain. He also slew the captive Midianite kings Zebah and Zalmunna; and after heaping all their golden ornaments and jewellery into a pile, melted it down to make a figurine,* a trophy of victory for his hometown Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites, near Shechem, where it became something of a tourist attraction.
The tribes of Israel begged Gideon to become their king, but he refused. He settled down in Ophrah, enjoying forty years of peace with seventy children by many wives. But that golden figurine was an error of judgment: for the Israelites began to worship it, and soon after Gideon died they were making idols of strange gods once again. His children, too, began to vie bitterly for rule over Israel, and not long afterwards Israel was overrun by Philistia.
The Hebrew word here is ‘ephod’. It is used for one of the vestments worn by the High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem, but it is also used (and sometimes so translated in the Authorised Version) to mean ‘image’, especially a portable one. See the entry at the Jewish Encyclopaedia (1906). Gideon’s ephod weighed 1,700 shekels or about 53lb.
Précis
Gideon’s victory over Midian brought a generation of peace to Israel, and the warrior retired to his hometown. However, he made the mistake of beating his enemies’ gold into some kind of victory trophy, which the Israelites began to treat with superstitious awe. From this came a strife in Israel that ended in invasion by neighbouring Philistia. (57 / 60 words)
Gideon’s victory over Midian brought a generation of peace to Israel, and the warrior retired to his hometown. However, he made the mistake of beating his enemies’ gold into some kind of victory trophy, which the Israelites began to treat with superstitious awe. From this came a strife in Israel that ended in invasion by neighbouring Philistia.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, just, not, otherwise, ought, unless, until, who.
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Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 God. Make. Trophy.
2 Complain. Drive. Jewelry.
3 Both. Forty. He.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Adjectives Find in Think and Speak
For each word below, compose sentences to show that it may be used as an adjective. Adjectives provide extra information about a noun, e.g. a black cat, a round table, the early bird etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Childish. 2 Longer. 3 Trying. 4 Golden. 5 Playful. 6 Enduring. 7 Strange. 8 Public. 9 Better.
Variations: 1.show whether your adjective can also be used as e.g. a noun, verb or adverb. 2.show whether your adjective can be used in comparisons (e.g. good/better/best). 3.show whether your adjective can be used in attributive position (e.g. a dangerous corner) and also in predicate position (this corner is dangerous).
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
crtn (6+1)
carton. cartoon. certain. creation. cretin. curtain.
crouton.
