Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.

And they said to Joas: Bring out thy son hither, that he may die: because he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his grove.

Then the men of the town said to Jo'ash, |Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Ba'al and cut down the Ashe'rah beside it.|

And the men of the city say unto Joash, 'Bring out thy son, and he dieth, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the shrine which is by it.'

Then the men of the town said to Joash, Make your son come out to be put to death, for pulling down the altar of Baal and cutting down the holy tree which was by it.

And they said to Joash: "Bring forward your son here, so that he may die. For he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and he has cut down the sacred grove."

The men of the city said - They all felt an interest in the continuance of rites in which they had often many sensual gratifications. Baal and Ashtaroth would have more worshippers than the true God, because their rites were more adapted to the fallen nature of man.

Then the men of the city said unto Joash,.... The principal inhabitants of the place met together, and in a body went to Joash their chief magistrate, to have justice done in this case:
bring out thy son, that he may die; they do not ask to have the cause tried by him, to hear what proof they had of the fact, or what Gideon had to say in his own defence; nor do they wait for the sentence of Joash, but determine it themselves, and require the delinquent to be given up to them, that they might put him to death; a strange request of Israelites, whose law judged no man before it heard him; and besides, according to that, the worshippers of Baal, and not the destroyers of him, and his altars, were to be put to death, which shows how strangely mad and infatuated these people were:
because he hath cut down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it; they take no notice of the bullock which he had taken and offered, it being his father's property; and which seems to confirm the sense of our version, that there was but one, Judges 6:25 for had the second been a different one, and the people's property, they would have accused him of theft as well as sacrilege respecting that.

They said - Probably some of the persons employed in it.