Judges 8

2-3: I do not understand how Gideon quelled their anger.
     They were upset because they were not called to help with the initial attack (they did not know that God didn't want them there). After they delivered the heads or Oreb and Zeeb they complained to Gideon about the lateness of his call. Gideon quells them with flattery, pure and simple...a very old and effective trick.

2: Who is Abiezer?
     He was the ancestor of Gideon. The eldest son of Gilead, descendant of Manasseh. 

7-9: Gideon does not seem near as gracious in this chapter.

14: Why 77?
     It is hard to say, the number crops up a lot in scripture. I have heard that it is a number of completeness. What I do not understand is why it is used here, in such a small section of the bible.

16: He took thorns? How did he teach the men of Succoth a lesson?
     It was public whipping...then he killed them. John Gill commends Gideon's wisdom in this action. He thinks they deserve it and Gideon was wise to seek out only the elders for this chastisement. But I am not so sure. I just feel that this is not the way that God would have done it, and even if it were, we have no record that God had any part in this display. God always needs to be in front of us as we do battle.

18: "As you are, so were they." What does this phrase mean?
     It could mean that they looked like Gideon, the kings could see the resemblance, this agrees with the next verse where they seem to flatter Gideon by saying that they could have also been kings.

20: How old is a young man considered to be?
     I did not find an answer, it seems to me that he would be less than 30, I have heard that that is the true "coming of age" in that time...which makes sense. I know a lot of men who don't seem very mature until that age... :)

23: Gideon's actions in the next verses do not support his apparent indifference in being their king.

24: Wait...were they Israelites (v. 22) or Ishmaelites? And what does that have to do with owning golden earrings?
     I was misreading, the Israelites defeated the Ishmaelites, and from the spoils of war, each Israelite was to give Gideon an earring.

27: Whored. What a gruesome word to use, but it is accurate. Whenever we turn our faces from God, we are essentially whole-heartedly selling ourselves to something (or someone) else.

33: It is no wonder that the people turned away from God as soon as Gideon died. They were not really following God. They were following Gideon (based on verse 28..."they raised their heads no more.

Gideon seems to have lost all that doubt that he displayed in the previous chapter. He treats his fellow man as the enemy would treat them and then when peace is restored, he leads them back into idolatry. Old habits die REALLY hard. I guess we should learn to never lose that self doubt that dwells in each of us, because when we do, we will revert back to that sinful nature that was our original motivation.