1. Judges 8:24 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does Gideon’s request reveal about him?

Judges 8:24 (ESV)

24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

Gideon acts like a king. His request for golden earrings from his men’s spoils was a request for a royal share of plunder. It was a request for a symbolic gesture of submission to his authority.1