The Book of Judges
Judges 7
Chapter VII · Vol. II, pp. 595–598
1 Gideon's army of two and thirty thousand is, by God's direction, reduced to three hundred. 9 He is encouraged by the dream and interpretation of the barley-cake. 16 His stratagem of trumpets and lamps in pitchers. 24 The Ephraimites take Oreb and Zeeb.
1 Then aJerubbaal, (who is Gideon,) and all the people that were with him, brose up early, and pitched beside the well of cHarod:1 so that the host of the Midianites were on north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the dvalley.2
a ch.6.32.
b Jos.3.1;6.12. Ec.9.10. Ps.119.60.
c Trembling, ch.6.3,33. 1 Sa.14.15;13.7.
1 Another trait in the character of Gideon is developed here, (1) his early hours, by which the most eminent men have ever been distinguished (see Ge.22.3); (2) his prudent regard, as a general, to the accommodation of his army in pitching his camp beside a sufficient well of water.—C.
A.M. 2792 B.C. 1212
d Ge.12.6.
2 The well or fountain of Harod, now called Ain Jâlûd, is situated on the south side of the valley of Jezreel, at the base of Mount Gilboa, about a mile east of the site of the city of Jezreel. The fountain is large, bursting from the hill side, forming a large pond, and sending forth a stream down the valley to Bethshean. The 'hill of Moreh' is a bare ridge, three miles north beyond the plain. At its south-western base, in sight of Harod, is the village of Shunem, near which the Midianites were encamped.—P.
2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are etoo many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
e Zec.4.6. 1 Co.1.27. 2 Co.10.4,5. De.32.27.
3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, fWhosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead.3 And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand.
f De.20.8. Mat.13.21. Re.21.8;17.14.
3 Gilead certainly lay on the east, while Gideon was now on the west of Jordan. How then are any to depart from a place where they were not? Some have supposed that though Gilead Proper was on the east of Jordan, the continuation on the west might also have been called Gilead. Others suppose Gilead an error, and that it should be Gilboa, but this change is unsupported by authority. Hales reads it thus—'Whosoever from mount Gilead is afraid,' &c., a feeling most likely in the Manassites from that district, as they were nearest to their Midianitish oppressors.—C.
4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will gtry them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
g Heb. separate, purify, Mal.3.2,3. 1 Sa.16.6,7. I will give thee a sign who are fit for service.
5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth,4 him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
4 Not by immersing the tongue in the water, like the dog, but by lifting or rather throwing up the water by the hand, ver. 6, into the mouth,—a mode of drinking still practised by many eastern travellers with great dexterity.—C.
6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, hBy the three hundred men that lapped5 will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
h ch.18.9. 1 Sa.14.6. Is.41.14-16. Le.26.7,8. Jos.23.10.
5 The army coming up in companies, such as the well could admit, it would be easy to select those that lapped without any divulging of the reason; and as acts apparently trivial may be the most decided tests of disposition and character, the greediness of those that bowed on their knees may have indicated a people slaves to appetite, and forgetful of danger while it was gratified; while those who lapped indicated that forbearance and self-restraint with only such necessary indulgence as left them best prepared for any sudden emergency or danger.—C.
8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and itheir trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men. And the host of Midian was kbeneath him in the valley.
i Le.23.24. ch.3.27; ver.19. It seems they took no arms.
k ch.6.33; ver.1.
9 And it came to pass the same lnight, that the LORD said unto him, mArise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.6
10 But if nthou fear to go down,7 go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:
n ch.4.8,9. Ex.4.10,14.
7 A brave man may fear. Indeed a just estimate and avoidance of danger is absolutely necessary in a leader. God has compassion on human infirmity, and allows us to borrow encouragement from companionships.—Note, Let us remember how much Christians could encourage one another in danger and aid one another in difficulties: 'Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the royal law of love.'—C.
11 Ando thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armedp men that were in the host.
12 And qthe Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the children of the east, lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea-side for multitude.
13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, ra cake of barley-bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
A.M. 2792 B.C. 1212
r ch.6.15;3.15,31;4.9,21. 1 Co.1.27. Is.41.14,15.
14 And his sfellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the 8interpretation thereof, that he tworshipped,9 and returned into the host of Israel, and said, uArise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
8 Heb. the breaking thereof.
t Ge.24.26,27. Ex.4.30,31. Ps.34.1,2.
9 Mark the piety of Gideon. It is not said he rejoiced, but that he worshipped—that is, his joy took not the form of selfishness, but of godliness.—C.
u ch.4.14. 2 Co.10.4-6. Jos.1.5,9. De.31.1,6,7.
16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet1 in every man's hand, with xempty pitchers, and lamps2 within the pitchers.
17 And he said unto them, yLook on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be, that as I do, so shall ye do.
18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then zblow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword3 of the LORD, and of Gideon.4
z ver.20. 1 Sa.17.47. 2 Ch.20.15,17.
3 The word sword is properly supplied here from ver. 20. It is found in some of the earliest translations and in several MSS. Still it is most likely to have been omitted by Gideon, as in our Hebrew Bibles; and that the action of drawing the sword fully and most emphatically supplied its place, and explained his meaning. Or the words may be translated—'For the Lord and for Gideon.'—C.
4 The battle-cry which Gideon gave his men was a noble and inspiriting one—'For the Lord and for Gideon.' There is no necessity to add the word 'sword.' When the Midianites were surprised at dead of night, and when roused from sleep by the crash of the pitchers, the roar of the trumpets, and the sudden blaze of 300 torches round the camp, then the Israelites cried as they rushed upon the panic-stricken Midianites, 'The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.'—P.
19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp ain the beginning of the middle 5watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and bbrake the pitchers that were in their hands.
a Ex.14.24. Re.16.15. 1 Th.5.3. Mat.24.42,44. Pr.27.1.
5 The Hebrews had three watches; the Romans four. The first Hebrew watch was completed at midnight, at which time Gideon assailed the sleeping Midianites. The Roman division is found in the New Testament, because Israel had then come under subjection to that iron government.—C.
b Ps.2.9. Je.13.13,14;19.11.
20 And the three companies cblew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
21 And they dstood every man in his place round about the camp: and eall the host ran, and cried, and fled.
d Ex.14.13. 2 Ch.20.17. Is.30.7,15;26.12.
e Pr.28.1. 2 Ki.7.6,7. Ex.14.25.
22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the fLORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host; and the host fled to Beth-shittah in6 Zererath, and to the border7 of gAbel-meholah, unto Tabbath.
23 And the hmen of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
h ch.6.35;7.3.
24 And Gideon isent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and ktake before them the waters unto Beth-barah8 and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto lBeth-barah and Jordan.
25 And they took mtwo princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb:9 and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the wine-press of Zeeb; and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon onn the other side Jordan.
9 The personal names, both among the Israelites and other ancient people of the East, were all significant, and sometimes bestowed at birth by parental authority, and sometimes in after-life to mark some historical occurrence. The names of these two Midianitish princes signify 'Raven' and 'Wolf,' exhibiting a remarkable similarity to the names of the American Indians; with whom the 'Great Raven,' the 'Great Hawk,' the 'Great Snake,' are favourite names of chieftains.—C.
n ch. 8. 4, i.e. the east side of it.
Notes
[Ver. 16. He put a trumpet in every man's hand. How can we account for the ease with which Gideon obtains 300 trumpets in such a wretched and oppressed country, and especially 300 men qualified by practice, and it requires no little, to blow on them? By recollecting that the Levites used the trumpets in the worship of the Lord; and that being now laid aside, the use of the trumpet had probably been transferred to the worship of their idols, and extended from the Levites to all the people. The circumstance of so many trumpets and qualified blowers favours the idea suggested in the note on preceding chapter, ver. 34, that the oppressed Israelites had established something equivalent to telegraphic communication, by means of the different trumpet-calls. C.]
Ver. 22. [The Lord set every man's sword against his fellow. The host of the enemy was not exclusively Midianitish, but included the Amalekites and the various Arab tribes called 'children of the East,' ch. 6. 33, it is therefore easy to comprehend how such a mixed multitude, numerous as grasshoppers, might mistake each other for enemies, and commit the kind of self-slaughter recorded. C.]
Reflections.—When God affords remarkable encouragement, his service should be undertaken with the greatest earnestness: and let us remember that God is apt to try his people's faith thoroughly in the progress of their work, who insisted too much in trying him in their entrance on it. When multitudes flock to God's standard, many of them are ordinarily unfit for his service: many never weigh the consequences, and therefore quickly start aside. And such as are enslaved by the fear of men are better out of God's camp than in it; for God will take every means to convince his people that they ought to have no dependence on an arm of flesh. And happy are they who can believe his promise, when he lays aside almost every apparent means of accomplishing it. But seasonable and sympathizing are the consolations of God to his people. By the most inconsiderable incidents he can promote and encourage us to the greatest exploits. With great ease he can rout and destroy his most presumptuous and numerous enemies, and make them to kill one another, or flee when none pursueth, while his people behold his salvation. But it is proper for us to assist the people of God against their enemies, and to mark the distinguished providences of God as a mean of awakening our thankfulness, or confirming our faith on after occasions.