The weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks.
The grateful Israelites willingly donated a large quantity of gold jewelry, ". . . between 40 and 75 pounds’ weight, depending on whether the light or heavy shekel was employed." [Note: Cundall and Morris, p. 122.] Gideon took this gold and had it fashioned into an ephod, which he displayed publicly in his hometown of Ophrah. Even though Gideon had professed to reject kingship, he was behaving more and more like a king (cf. Deuteronomy 17:17).