And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil.

They answered: We will give them most willingly. And spreading a mantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the spoils.

And they answered, |We will willingly give them.| And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil.

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his spoil.

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and cast into it every man the ear-rings of his prey.

And they say, 'We certainly give;' and they spread out the garment, and cast thither each the ring of his prey;

And they gave answer, We will gladly give them. So they put down a robe, every man dropping into it the ear-rings he had taken.

They answered, 'We will willingly give them.' They spread a garment, and every one of them threw an earring from his plunder.

They responded, "We are very willing to give them." And spreading a cloak on the ground, they cast upon it the earrings from the spoils.

They spread - The Septuagint reads "He spread his garment."

And they answered, we will willingly give them,.... Or, "in giving we will give" (d); give them with all their hearts, most freely and cheerfully:
and they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey; every man one, which would amount to no more than three hundred; though perhaps those who joined in the pursuit might take many more, or otherwise the weight of them would not amount to what in the next verse they are said to weigh.
(d) "dando dabimus", Pagninus, Montanus.

This request of Gideon's was cheerfully fulfilled: "They spread out the cloth (brought for collecting the rings), and threw into it every one the ring that he had received as booty." Simlah, the upper garment, was for the most part only a large square piece of cloth. The weight of these golden rings amounted to 1700 shekels, i.e., about 50 lbs., (מן לבד) separate from, i.e., beside, the remaining booty, for which Gideon had not asked, and which the Israelites kept for themselves, viz., the little moons, the ear-pendants (netiphoth, lit. little drops, probably pearl-shaped ear-drops: see Isaiah 3:19), and the purple clothes which were worn by the kings of Midian (i.e., which they had on), and also apart from the neck-bands upon the necks of their camels. Instead of the anakoth or necklaces (Judges 8:26), the saharonim, or little moons upon the necks of the camels, are mentioned in Judges 8:21 as the more valuable portion of these necklaces. Even at the present day the Arabs are accustomed to ornament the necks of these animals "with a band of cloth or leather, upon which small shells called cowries are strung or sewed in the form of a crescent. The sheiks add silver ornaments to these, which make a rich booty in time of war" (Wellsted, Reise, i. p. 209). The Midianitish kings had their camels ornamented with golden crescents. This abundance of golden ornaments will not surprise us, when we consider that the Arabs still carry their luxurious tastes for such things to a very great excess. Wellsted (i. p. 224) states that "the women in Omn spend considerable amounts in the purchase of silver ornaments, and their children are literally laden with them. I have sometimes counted fifteen ear-rings upon each side; and the head, breast, arms, and ankles are adorned with the same profusion." As the Midianitish army consisted of 130,000 men, of whom 15,000 only remained at the commencement of the last engagement, the Israelites may easily have collected 5000 golden rings, or even more, which might weigh 1700 shekels.