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Judges 8:15
ESV And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’”
NIV Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, 'Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?''
NASB And he came to the men of Succoth and said, 'Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘ Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’?'
CSB Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, 'Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men? ' "
NLT Gideon then returned to Succoth and said to the leaders, 'Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you taunted me, saying, ‘Catch Zebah and Zalmunna first, and then we will feed your exhausted army.’'
KJV And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?

What does Judges 8:15 mean?

This incident proves the momentous change in Gideon. He has gone from downplaying himself as the least of his father's household (Judges 6:15) to embracing a role as God's warrior and judge of Israel (Judges 8:10–13). Having defeated the Midianites in battle by God's power, he has now returned to an Israelite town where his soldiers were refused bread in a time of great need (Judges 8:4–9).

Gideon captured a young man from the town, who made a list of the officials and elders in Succoth. Now Gideon calls those leaders out and reminds them what their representative said when he came looking for help (Judges 8:6). At the time, the people of Succoth told Gideon they would only help if they had nothing to fear from their enemies.

As promised, Gideon presents the two kings he had been seeking to defeat. He has captured both Zebah and Zalmunna, alive, and routed the remains of their army. Gideon wants the men of Succoth to understand that in choosing submission to kings of Midian, rather than support for fellow Israelites, they have made a grave mistake. They have been faithless to God and their own countrymen. Gideon will make them pay—as the following verse puts it, he will "[teach] them a lesson" (Judges 8:16).
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