Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 8:16
And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
16. and with them he taught ] Read, changing one letter, threshed as in Jdg 8:7, with LXX. B , A . The Vulgate gives a double rendering: et contrivit cum eis, atque comminuit viros Soccoth. Peshitto and Targ. paraphrase. The meaning seems to be that Gideon dragged thorns and teasels over their prostrate bodies, i.e. carded them; a form of torture well known in antiquity. For ‘threshing’ in this metaphorical sense cf. Amo 1:3, Mic 4:13, Isa 41:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He taught – Thought to be a false reading, for he threshed, as in Jdg 8:7 margin.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. He taught the men of Succoth.] Instead of he taught, Houbigant reads he tore; and this is not only agreeable to what Gideon had threatened, Jdg 8:7, but is supported by the Vulgate, Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Hebrew text might have been easily corrupted in this place by the change of shin into ain, letters very similar to each other.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
By that severe punishment (of which Jdg 8:7) he made the men, i.e. the elders of Succoth, to know their sin and folly, though it was too late for their good, but not for the instruction and warning of others.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. he took . . . the thorns of thewilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of SuccothByrefusing his soldiers refreshment, they had committed a public crime,as well as an act of inhumanity, and were subjected to a horriblepunishment, which the great abundance and remarkable size of thethorn bushes, together with the thinness of clothing in the East, hasprobably suggested.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he took the elders of the city,…. All of them, especially those of them who had been most guilty, and had them to a proper place, where they might be made public examples of:
and thorns of the wilderness, and briers; which were near at hand, and soon cut up, for which he gave orders to proper persons:
and with them he taught the men of Succoth; either the inhabitants of the place, as distinct from the elders, whose punishment he taught them to be cautious not to follow such examples, or to behave ill to their superiors; or the princes and elders of the city are meant by the men of it, whom Gideon taught or chastised with thorns and briers; and so it is usual with us for a parent or master to say to his child or servant that has offended, I will “teach” you to do so or so, or to do otherwise, when he threatens to chastise: or “with them he made them to know” z; that is, their sin and the heinousness of it, by the punishment he inflicted on them. Abarbinel thinks the word “know” has the signification of mercy in it, as in Ex 2:25 in that he did not punish in general the men of that city, only the elders of it. The Targum is,
“he broke upon them, or by them, the men of Succoth;”
so Jarchi and others; that is, he broke the briers and thorns upon them, scourging them with them; or rather broke and tore their flesh by them: whether they died or no is not certain.
z “et cognoscere fecit”, Montanus; so some in Vatablus; “notificavit”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16) He taught.Literally, made to know (Pro. 10:9); but may be a misreading for he threshed, as in Jdg. 6:7. (Vulg. contrivit atque comminuit.)
The men of Succoth.i.e., the elders. Gideon would be well aware that in an Oriental city the mass of the people have no voice in any decision. Ewald takes it to mean, By them (the slain elders) he taught the (rest of the) people of Succoth to be wiser in future.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Taught the men Made them know his power, and their own guilt, in refusing him supplies. He gave them such a severe scourging, by means of the whips of thorns and briers, that the lesson of respect for God’s chosen conqueror could thenceforth neither be misunderstood nor forgotten.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness, and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth .’
The words are expressive. They were taught what it meant to breach the covenant, with thorns and briers, probably by a severe beating. It may be that he spared their lives for he exacted the punishment that he had first promised and no more (verse 7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 8:16. And with them he taught the men of Succoth He threatened in the 7th verse to tear their flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with briars, which Le Clerc there renders, then will I thresh their flesh, &c. and here for and with them he taught, &c. he reads, and made an example of them to the men of Succoth. But there is nobody, says Houbigant, conversant in the style of Scripture, who can doubt that dashti, I will tear, being read in the 7th verse, the true reading here is, vaiidash, and he tore, and not vaiiodang, and he taught, as we now read. What gives the greatest confirmation to this conjecture is, that the ancient versions, with one consent, agree in this reading. It is doubtful what kind of punishment it was that Gideon inflicted upon the princes of Succoth; but as their crime was the same as that of the men of Penuel, there seems to be no doubt that it was a punishment unto death. However severe, this chastisement was just. In refusing Gideon the succours which he demanded for the troops employed to save the state, they rendered themselves guilty of a species of rebellion; they sinned against the laws of humanity; they joined insult to their cruelty; and their refusal, unworthy of a people who had any respect for religion, and any love of their country, merited a more public chastisement; as otherwise their example might have proved contagious, and have defeated all the good effects of Gideon’s government. See Scheuchzer on the place.
REFLECTIONS.Though the battle is won, and a vast slaughter already made of one hundred and twenty thousand men of war, yet the sword of Gideon cannot rest whilst Zeba and Zalmunna, with fifteen thousand men, are still alive in Karkor. We have therefore,
1. His hot pursuit of them. With his three hundred men, not one of whom was missing, he passes Jordan; and, since God had so eminently supported him, seeks no other assistance: though faint with watching, want of food, and fatigue, he slacks not his pace, nor is discouraged with the refusal of refreshment that he met with at Succoth or Penuel, but continues his march; and, having taken a compass out of the strait road, he surprised the fugitive Midianites, who thought themselves secure, and beyond the possibility of being overtaken. As before, they seek their safety in flight; and when most of them are slain, their two kings remain prisoners with the conquerors. Note; (1.) Though in our spiritual warfare our flesh and heart often seem ready to fail, we must be still looking up for strength, and persevere. (2.) Those from whom we might expect the most cordial assistance, often, like the men of Succoth and Penuel, seek to weaken our hands and discourage our hearts. (3.) Patient perseverance will infallibly be crowned with success.
2. His heavy chastisement of his unnatural countrymen, according to his threatening when they refused to assist him with provisions in the pursuit; his request was small, he asked only a few loaves of bread; his necessities were urgent, and his deserts at the hand of every Israelite such as entitled him to their best entertainment; but they, whether afraid of the resentment of the Midianites, or led, from the smallness of Gideon’s forces, to treat his attempt as rash and desperate, not only shut up their bowels of compassion from him as a brother, but ridiculed his vain pursuit, as they conceived it, casting contempt on his faith in God. Justly incensed at such treatment, where not himself was more injured than God dishonoured, he had threatened to visit them; and, though he could not then interrupt his march to chastise their insolence, now that he is returned he will do it more deliberately and severely. Accordingly, having gained intelligence of the chief men at whose instigation he had been so used, he seizes their cities and persons: after upbraiding them with their baseness, and shewing them the captive kings in chains, as he had threatened, he scourged those of Succoth with thorns and briers, that, by this correction, they might know their folly and their sin, whilst the men of Penuel were put to the sword, and their fortress demolished. Note; (1.) They who sin will smart for it, either now under the rod of correction, or eternally under the wrath of God. (2.) It is no new thing to have the world ridicule the pursuits of God’s people; but they who counted their lives madness, will shortly see that the folly was in themselves. (3.) In the severest chastisement, God means not our destruction, but correction: happy they who acknowledge God’s hand, and correspond with the designs of his grace.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jdg 8:16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
Ver. 16. And he took the elders of the city, and thorns, &c. ] Wherewith he tore them, as well as taught them what it was to be so barbarous, and that he had not threatened them in terrorem only. God also chastiseth his children, and thereby “teacheth them,” but after another manner, “out of his law, that he may give them rest from the day of adversity.” Psa 94:12-13 He whippeth them, but it is with sweetbrier. But let scorners of God and his people, deriders and discouragers of the good, look for a Gideon to torture them, with briers and thorns, with scourges and scorpions.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the elders: Jdg 8:7, Pro 10:13, Pro 19:29, Ezr 2:6
thorns: Mic 7:4
taught: Heb. made to know, Instead of wyyoda, Houbigant, Lev. Clerc, and others read wyyadosh, “and he tore or threshed;” and this is not only agreeable to what Gideon threatened (Jdg 8:7), but is supported by the LXX Vulgate, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Hebrew Text might easily have been corrupted simply by the change of , shin, into , ayin, letters very similar to each other.
Reciprocal: Gen 33:17 – Succoth Exo 3:20 – after that 1Ch 20:3 – with saws
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 8:16-17. With them he taught the men of Succoth He tore their flesh with these thorns, (as he had threatened, Jdg 8:7.) It is not said that he tormented them till they expired, and therefore he perhaps only put them to torture for some time; but if he put them to death, then the expression, with them he taught the men of Succoth, must mean, that he made their death an example to the rest of the inhabitants, to terrify them from such ungenerous behaviour for the future. As their crime was the same, says Dr. Dodd, as that of the men of Penuel, it seems likely that it was a punishment unto death. However severe, this chastisement was just. In refusing Gideon the succour which he demanded for the troops employed to save the state, they rendered themselves guilty of a species of rebellion; they sinned against the laws of humanity; they joined insult to their cruelty; and their refusal, unworthy a people who had any respect for religion, and any love for their country, merited a more public chastisement; as otherwise their example might have proved contagious, and have defeated all the good effects of Gideons government. He slew the men of the city Not all of them; probably only those who had affronted him.