This verse is obviously a high point in the story, and the narrator marks it by the word Behold (Hebrew hinneh), along with a play on words using the key term hand.

And he came to the men of Succoth, and said: Armed with the list of names, Gideon returned to Succoth. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “So” (New American Bible) or “Then” (Good News Translation). Came is a literal rendering, but many languages will prefer “went” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The men of Succoth may refer to all the town’s inhabitants (so Revised English Bible with “the people of Succoth”), but more likely it refers to its leaders (so Contemporary English Version with “the town officials”). This whole sentence may be rendered “So Gideon went to the leaders of Succoth, and said to them.”

Behold, Zebah and Zalmunna: The Hebrew word hinneh rendered Behold marks the high point or climax of this episode. It also serves as a kind of demonstrative to introduce the two Midianite kings, so Contemporary English Version renders this clause as “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna.” This is what the town leaders had demanded earlier (verse 8.6), hardly expecting Gideon to be able to capture them. Good News Translation says “Well, here they are!” which is quite dynamic. We may also say “Take a look at this!” or “Here, see for yourselves!”

About whom you taunted me is a relative clause that describes the two kings. The leaders of Succoth made fun of Gideon when he asked for food for his troops. They mockingly said they wanted Gideon to capture the kings before they granted his request. The Hebrew verb for taunted may be rendered “mocked” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). This relative clause may be translated as an independent one by saying “These are the two you mocked me about” or “You laughed at me earlier because of these two!” A more dynamic model is “You didn’t think I could catch these two, did you?”

Saying introduces what the leaders of Succoth said to Gideon as they taunted him.

Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?: This is a quote of what Succoth’s leaders said earlier to Gideon (see verse 8.6). In many cultures this repetition is an important part of storytelling style and underlines the fact that the leaders were wrong to make this statement. In such languages the exact words from 8.6 should appear, which will probably mean using a quote within a quote. Translators should follow standard punctuation agreed upon by the translation team and the community. A possible model that keeps both levels of quotation is “Here they are, the two people you taunted me about! You said, ‘Where are Zebah and Zalmunna? Show them to us before we give food to your men who are so exhausted!’ ” If the embedded quote is too complicated or unnatural, then translators will have to use indirect speech, for example, “You wanted me to prove that I already had captured Zebah and Zalmunna before you would give food to my men who were exhausted.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• So Gideon returned to the town of Succoth and told the leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna! Do you remember them? You made fun of me and asked if I had already captured them. You refused to give food to my troops dropping from exhaustion.”

• Then Gideon went to the leaders of Succoth and said to them, “You mocked me by saying, ‘Have you already defeated Zebah and Zalmunna? Why should we give food to your tired army?’ Well, look, here they are!”

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 .