Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 7:12
And the 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.
12. and the Amalekites etc.] See on Jdg 6:3, and cf. Jdg 6:5.
lay along ] lay settled, like locusts: the vast numbers explain both Gideon’s fear and the ease with which he escaped observation. But the verse is made up of standing expressions, and may be an editorial insertion; it rather interrupts the connexion between Jdg 7:11 ; Jdg 7:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12. the Midianites and theAmalekites . . . lay along in the valley like grasshoppers formultitude; and their camels were without numbera most graphicdescription of an Arab encampment. They lay wrapt in sleep, orresting from their day’s plunder, while their innumerable camels werestretched round about them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Midianites and the Amalekites, and the children of the east,…. The Arabians, who with the Amalekites joined the Midianites in this expedition:
lay along in the valley in the valley of Jezreel, in their tents, which overspread the valley, or at least great part of it:
like grasshoppers for multitude; or locusts, which usually come in great numbers, and cover the air and the sun where they fly, and the earth where they light, as they did the land of Egypt; this army consisted at least of 135,000 men, as is clear from Jud 8:10
and their camels were without number; as the sand is by the sea side for multitude; an hyperbolical expression, setting forth the great number of them which the countries of Midian and Arabia abounded with; and were very proper to bring with them, to load and carry off the booty they came for, the fruits of the earth; see Jud 6:4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) Like grasshoppers.Comp. Jdg. 6:5; Num. 22:4-5.
Their camels.Which constitute the chief wealth of Arab tribes. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah (Isa. 60:6).
As the sand.See Jos. 11:4, and frequently in the Bible. (See Gen. 22:17; Isa. 48:19, &c.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Like grasshoppers as the sand by the sea side Examples of oriental hyperbole, as common among the modern Arabs as among the ancient Hebrews.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the Midianites and the Amalekites, and all the children of the east, lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand which is on the sea shore for multitude.’
As they crawled nearer they could see stretching before them the camp fires indicating the huge force that was awaiting their attack, a force beyond numbering, like a huge swarm of locusts covering the ground, and they were there with the sole purpose of devouring all that the Israelites possessed. Only those who have witnessed the vastness of a swarm of locusts and seen the devastation that they cause can begin to appreciate the picture.
“Without number.” Granted that this is deliberate exaggeration, nevertheless we should remember that numbering was not an art practised by many in those days, especially among folk like the Israelites. Numbers were used descriptively rather than mathematically. The sand by the sea shore is a description regularly used to describe countless numbers (Gen 22:17; Jos 11:4 ; 1Sa 13:5; 2Sa 17:11; Hos 1:10). And these camels were there to carry off booty.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gideon and his attendant secretly visit the hostile camp. The dream of the soldier and its interpretation. The night-surprise, confusion, and pursuit
Jdg 7:12-25
12And the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the children [sons] of the east, lay along in the valley like grasshoppers [locusts] for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea-side for multitude. 13And 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, a [round] cake of barley-bread tumbled into [rolled itself against] the host [camp] of Midian, and came unto a [the] tent [i.e. the tents; the singular, used collectively], and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tent [i.e. all the tents] lay along. 14And his fellow answered, and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a [the] man of Israel: for [omit: for] into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host [camp]. 15And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host [camp] of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord 16[Jehovah] hath delivered into your hand the host [camp] of Midian. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every mans hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps [torches] within the pitchers. 17And he said unto them, Look 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. 18When I blow with a [the] trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord [Jehovah], and of Gideon. 19So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 20And the three companies blew the trumpets [all at once], and brake the pitchers, and held [took] the lamps [torches] in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord [Jehovah], and of Gideon. 21And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host [camp] ran [wasthrown into commotion], and cried, and fled. 22And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and [meanwhile] the Lord [Jehovah] set every mans sword against his fellow, even throughout [and against] all the host [camp]: and the host [camp] fled to Beth-shittah [the House of Acacias] in [toward] Zererath [Zererah], and [omit: and] to the border [edge] of Abel-meholah, unto [near] Tabbath. 23And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. 24And Gideon sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take [seize] before them the waters unto Beth-barah and [the] Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took [seized] the waters unto Beth-barah and [the] Jordan. 25And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb [Raven and Wolf]; and they slew Oreb upon [at] the rock Oreb [Ravens Rock], and Zeeb they slew at the wine-press of Zeeb [Wolfs Press], and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on [from] the other side [of the] Jordan.
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
Jdg 7:12. And Midian and Amalek. The pregnant and musing character of the style of our Book, notwithstanding its entire simplicity and artlessness, shows itself especially in the episode concerning Gideon. In order to emphasize the contrast which they present to the scanty means of Israelthe handful of men who followed Gideonthe countless numbers and vast resources of the enemy are once more pointed out. On one side, there are three hundred men, on foot; on the other, a multitude numerous as an army of locusts, riders on camels countless as the sands of the sea-shore (cf. above, on Jdg 6:5). This contrast must needs be insisted on here, that so the wonderful help of God may stand out in bold relief; that Israel may learn that victory comes not of numbers, but is the gift of God, and that in all their conflicts, it is the spirit of God who endows their enemies with victorious courage, that He may chasten his people, or fills them with fear and confusion, notwithstanding their multitude and might, that Israel may be delivered. God governs mans free will. He turns the hearts of men according to his wisdom. He raises the courage of the few and small to victory, and brings the proud and great to grief. It is his work that Gideon with three hundred men dares attack the enormous multitude; his doing that, as the soldiers dream and its interpretation indicate, sad forebodings fill the heart of the proud and mighty foe, and cause it to faint before the coming conflict.
Jdg 7:13. And as Gideon came, behold, a man told a dream. From the enemys dream, Gideon will learn the frame of mind in which they are. For this end he was to go into the encampment, thereby to perfect his own confidence. Jehovah is God of the heathen also. Although they do not believe in Him, they are yet instruments in his hand. It was He who, without their knowing it, raised them up and directed their way. They did not learn to know Him from his works; and yet He shone above them, like the sun concealed by clouds and vapors. The manifest God they fail to see by day; but the Hidden and Unknown they seek in dreams. All heathenism is, to a certain extent, a great dream; and it is in accordance with its nature, that as all nations dream, so all are disposed to find in dreams the indications of a hidden truth. Their interpreters did not know the God of Truth in himself; but He who turns the nations as water-courses, fills their hearts, when He pleases, with visions and interpretations which have their rise in truth. Hence, when in Scripture, God frequently favors heathen with dreams of truth, He does not thereby sanctify every dream; but only uses dreams to influence the men whom He takes under the guidance of his wisdom,the Philistine king, for instance, Laban the Araman, the Egyptian baker and butler,because they already look on dreams as such as hiding a divine mystery. Dreams appeared the more significant, when great events were manifestly at hand. And in the condition of mental excitement which under such circumstances seizes on men, they are natural and to be expected. Thus elsewhere also we hear of dreams by generals before battle. Leonidas, Plutarch (on Herodotus) tells us, had a dream before the battle of Thermopyl, which disclosed to him the future destinies of Greece and Thebes. Xerxes had a dream previous to his Greek campaign; and Gustavus Adolphus is said to have dreamed before the battle of Leipzig, that he was wrestling with Tilly (Joh. Scheffer, Memorab. Suet. Gentis, p. 23). It was not unknown to the Midianites that Gideon, though but a contemned foe, lay encamped on the mountain. The peculiar dream must therefore the more impress the soldier who dreamed it.
A round barley-loaf rolled itself. The narrative, notwithstanding its simplicity and brevity, is very vivid and forcible. The animated recurs three times. The dream itself also portrays the contrast with which it has to do, with uncommon clearness. The barley-loaf is the symbol of wretchedness and poverty,18 over against the luxury and wealth of Midian. Indigent Bedouins, who have nothing else, at this day still subsist on barley-bread, which they sometimes dip in goats fat (Ritter, xiv. 1003).19 The cake or loaf is here called , a term variously explained. The definition of Gesenius, who derives it from =, to roll, seems to be the most likely. The mention of the round form of the loaf was necessary to bring its rolling vividly before the imagination, since all loaves were not round. The Arabs of the desert, according to Niebuhr, take a round lump of dough, and bury it in hot coals, until they think it baked. Then they knock off the ashes, and eat it (Beschreib. Arab. p. 52). Such a wretched loaf is that which the Midianite sees rolling in his dream. It signifies Gideon and Israel, who, by reason of their enemies, were reduced to poverty and distress (Jdg 6:4). It comes rolling against the encampment (), not in it, as the expositors have it; for the dream depicts the coming event.
And it came to the tent, . The tentwith the article. It would be an error to think here, with Bertheau, who follows Josephus, of the tent of the king; for there were several kings. The tent of the dream stands collectively for all the tents of the encampment; for the very idea of the dream is that the rolling loaf comes into collision with the tents in general. One tent after another is struck by it, falls, and is turned upside down. , and the tent, all the tents, one after another, lay overturned. By this venaphal, the narrator recapitulates, as it were, the falling of the several tents, which in the vivid dream vision, in which all notions of time and space are forgotten, appeared like the downfall of a single tent.20
Jdg 7:14. And his fellow answered. The fact that a true interpretation is given by one comrade to the other, must be specially noted. The first has not asked, but only related; the other is no sooth-sayer, but only a companion. So much the more significant is the frame of mind in which the interpretation originates. For there exists no visible ground for thinking it possible that, notwithstanding their great power, Midian may be delivered into the hands of a man like Gideon. But what does exist, is an evil conscience. Through seven years Midian had plundered and trodden Israel. This is the first time, in all these years, that resistance is attempted. That in spite of distress and numerical weakness, Israel ventures now to begin a war, must of itself excite attention and make an impression. How long had it been, since Israel had unfurled the banners of its God! Proud tyranny is already startled at the prospect of resistance from a few faithful ones.21 According to Herodotus (Jdg 7:16), Artaban says to Xerxes: Men are wont to be visited in sleep by images of what they have thought on during the day. The principle applies in this case to both dreamer and interpreter. Dream and interpretation both reflect the forebodings of an evil conscience, which God is about to judge. The interpreter compares the rolling loaf with the sword of Gideon. (The hithpael of , here applied to that which symbolized the sword of Gideon (Jdg 7:13), is also used by the sacred writer of the sword which kept the entrance to the garden of Eden. Gen 3:24.) He it iscontinues the interpreterwho rises up against the domination of Midian: does he venture on this, and dreamest thou thus,be sure that his God (hence the article with Elohim, since without the article it also designates their gods) has delivered Midian into his power.
Jdg 7:15. When Gideon heard this. What Gideon hears is not merely the interpretation of a dream which confirms his brightest hopes. The dream is one which his enemies have, and the interpretation is their own. He hears in it an expression of the tone and mood of their minds. He learns that the confidence of the enemy is already broken by the reflection that Israels Lord is once more in the field. Astonished and adoring, he and his attendant hear this wonder, as great and real as any other that God has shown him. They feel that God has done thisthey see that He is leader and victorwith thanksgiving they bow before Him.22
Jdg 7:16-18. And he divided the three hundred men. Encouraged, Gideon hastens to act. He divides his band into three companies, so as to be able to surround the hostile encampment (cf. Jdg 7:21). He bids the two companies who are to take their stations on the other sides, to attend to his signal, and gives them the battle-cry. Now, as to this cry, though Jdg 7:18 gives it, Of Jehovah and of Gideon, yet, since Jdg 7:20 has, Sword of Jehovah and of Gideon, it is evident that in the former verse the word sword is to be supplied. For the two companies who were to wait for the trumpet-blast of Gideon and those with him, could not understand the words of the distant cry, and yet they also shouted, Sword of Jehovah and of Gideon (Jdg 7:20). Moreover, the command must have been executed as it was given; and hence the fact that according to Jdg 7:20. Gideons own company joined in the longer form, proves that to have been originally given. The cry itself is very expressive. It tells the Midianites that the sword of the God whose people and faith they have oppressed, and of the man whose insignificance they have despised, whose family they have injured, and who through God becomes their conqueror, is about to be swung over their heads.
Jdg 7:19-21. And Gideon came to the border line of the camp about the beginning of the middle watch. From the mention of the middle watch, it has been justly inferred that the night must be considered as divided into three watches. It was still deep in the night when Gideon undertook the surprise. The middle watch was just begun; the sentinels, it is added, with good reason, had just () been setfor as the middle watch advanced, the army would begin to stir. Prodigious was the alarm that seized on Midian, when suddenly the trumpets clanged, the pitchers crashed, the thundering battle-cry broke out, the torches23 blazed. Accounts are not wanting in the history of other nations, of similar stratagems adopted by bold generals. Tacitus expresses himself on this subject after his own manner (Annal. i. 68, 4): The clangor of trumpets and the glitter of arms (sonus tubarum, fulgor armorum) easily become destructive to a foe who thinks only of a few, half-armed opponents; the more unexpected the alarm, the greater the loss (cadebant ut rebus secundis avidi, ita adversis incauti). So the Roman Minucius Rufus terrified the Scordisci, by causing trumpets to be blown from among the mountains round about, the sound of which, echoed by the rocks, spread fear and terror (Frontinus, Stratagematicon, ii. 3). The ancients named such surprises Panic terrors, because Pan put the enemies of Dionysus to flight with his horns24 (cf Polynus, Strategem. i. and ii.).
The terror which seized on Midian was in truth a terror from God. This the simple narrative sets forth most classically. Jdg 7:16 had already stated that all had trumpets in their hands, and pitchers, with torches, whereby no hand was left free to use the sword. Jdg 7:20 says, still more explicitly, they had the torches in their left, and the trumpets in their right hands. They did not use the sword, but only cried, Sword of Jehovah and of Gideon. (Not, however, as if Gideon were put on a parallel with God: is to be taken as supplementing the preceding wordseven that committed to Gideon; for Gideon was the visible bearer of Gods sword.) Hence, also, Jdg 7:21 says: They stood (the troops of Gideon) round about the encampment; i.e., they stand, not otherwise attacking, but simply blowing their trumpets; yet the enemy takes to running ( stands contrasted with ). Just as in Joshuas time the walls of Jericho fell, while the trumpets of Israel sounded, so here it isThese blew, those fled. Terror and disorder ruled the hour in the Midianitish camp. In the darkness and confusion, they no longer knew what they did. Hence, Jdg 7:22 states that while the three hundred blew the trumpetsthis is intentionally repeated, and shows that they scarcely needed a sword against Midianthe Midianites thought themselves attacked by enemies, and raged among themselves, for Jehovah had set every mans sword against his fellow, and against the whole camp, or as we say, in cases of great confusion, All against one, one against all.
Jdg 7:22. And the host fled to Beth-shittah (the House of Acacias), towards Zererah, to the edge of Abel-meholah, near Tabbath. The direction of the flight, and the situation of the places named, can only be inferred from the connection and from a comparison of other passages. The mention of the places must have had a local significance for the reader who was acquainted with their situation. From Judges 8 we learn that the Midianites did not flee in one body, but in several divisions. This is as might be expected, seeing the army was composed of different tribesMidianites, Amalekites, and Sons of the East. This separation in flight is also indicated by the statement of the places to which they fled. First, they are said to have fled to Beth-shittah, towards Zererah, by which one line of flight is given. When it is further said that they fled to the edge of Abel-meholah, near Tabbath, the intention cannot be to prolong the first line, which is already terminated by the phrase towards Zererah, but a second is indicated. This also explains the measures adopted by Gideon. Being unable to follow both himself, he calls on Ephraim to cut off the other line of flight. The enemys effort was to gain the fords of the Jordan. That one through which kings Zebah and Zalmunna must have passed (Jdg 8:5), seeing they had the start of the others, is evidently indicated by , towards Zererah. Many codices have , toward Zeredah, daleth being substituted for resh. Kimchi, however, expressly calls attention to the two rs. But even in the earliest times Zeredah was read instead of Zererah, as appears from 2Ch 4:17, where we find . From the same passage compared with 1Ki 7:46, it is evident that Zeredah was identified with , Zorthan. From both it appears to have been situated in the vicinity of the Jordan, not very far from Beth-shean (Beisn); and from Jos 2:15-16, it may be inferred that near it there was a ford through the river. This explains why Midian took this line. They approached the river from the direction of Beth-shittah. Bertheau did well to connect this place with the modern village Shutta, mentioned by Robinson (ii. 356), and situated in the vicinity of Beth-shean. Keils objection that it lies north of Gilboa, is of no force under our view of the localities as above indicated. Zorthan (Zarthan) is mentioned in connection with a Succoth on this side the Jordan (1Ki 7:46). To this day the Jordan is passed near some ruins, not far from Beisn, which are supposed to indicate the site of Succoth (Ritter, xv. 446). The other line of fugitives took a more southerly direction, towards the edge of Abel-meholah. The name of this place, celebrated as the birth-place of the prophet Elisha, has been preserved in the Onomasticon of Eusebius as (ed. Parthey, p. 8). The fact that a , edge, or strand, is spoken of, indicates perhaps the presence of a wady. And in fact, coming down from Beisn or Zern, the first western tributary of the Jordan met with, is a Wady el-Maleh (cf. Ritter, xviii. 432448, in several passages). The fugitives are further said to have come to the edge of Abel-meholah near Tabbath. There is still a city Tubs, not far from Wady Maleh, usually considered to be the Thebez of the history of Abimelech (Jdg 9:50), for which, however, there is no compulsory ground.
Jdg 7:23-25. Gideon had a definite plan of pursuit. To carry it out, he required more men than the three hundred who had stood with him in the victory. The troops whom he had collected from Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali (Jdg 6:35), though subsequently dismissed, had not yet disbanded. They now returned (Zebulun only is not named), and assisted in the pursuit. But to overtake the Midianites on their fleet camels was not an easy matter. If not intercepted, those of them who were hastening southward, would get as safely over the Jordan as kings Zebah and Zal munna had done near Beisn (at Zorthan). Gideon had foreseen this, and had early sent a message to Ephraim, over whose territory the fugitive host was passing, to seize the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. Ephraim acted promptly, and a part of the Midianites were cut off. The waters can only mean some western tributaries of the Jordan; for Gideons object is to prevent that body of the enemy which by his pursuit he has thus far kept away from the river, from gaining the lower fords and crossing over. He therefore desires the waters to be seized to Beth-barah. This name Beth-barah cannot well have originated from Beth-abarah (Ford-house). It does not appear that the letter has been dropped out of . Besides, if Beth-barah meant Ford-house, the direction to Beth-barah would have been superfluous; for in that case the seizure of the Jordan would have included that of the waters and the ford. On the other hand, it was important to provide for the occupation of the waters, or the particular stream intended, along its whole length to its source; lest, while it was guarded below, the enemy should cross it above. Beth-barah is therefore, with Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast., p. 104), to be explained as House of the Spring, Well-house (from or ), by which the narrative becomes clear and intelligible. Therewith, also fall all attempts to identify this Beth-barah with the Beth-abarah of Origens reading at Joh 1:28; for that lay beyond the Jordan. Origen was, however, led by a right critical feeling. Instead of a Bethany, the people of his day doubtless spoke of a Beth-abarah in that region; and this, philologically and in fact, was one and the same with Bethany. For this trans-Jordanic Bethanynot to be confounded with that near Jerusalemis to be derived from Beth–ain, as Beth-abarah from Beth–beer, and like the latter signifies House of the Spring,a point to which I formerly directed attention in my Bericht ber Renan (Berlin, 1864).
The Ephraimites, to their great glory, captured the two Midianite princes Oreb and Zeeb. It was the reward of their prompt obedience. Very suggestive are the names, under which these two princes of the desert had perhaps been especially dreadedWolf and Raven. Among other nations also, these animals, frequenters of desolate places, and eager attendants on battle-fields, have furnished surnames for noted warriors. The Arabs, because the raven follows in the wake of caravans, call him Ebul–Mirkal, Father of the Swift Camel, or Ibn-Bersun, Son of the Sumpter-horse. Noteworthy, at all events, is the conjunction of Raven and Wolf. Coupled in the same way, we find them sacred to the Scandinavian Odin. Both ravens and wolves were also consecrated to Apollo. In the early Roman legends the woodpecker (picus) takes the place of the raven as companion of the wolf, and both belong to the God of War (cf. my Schamir, Erf. 1856, p. 103). The Arabs give to both the bird and the quadruped the common name Ibnol-Erdh, Son of the Earth (Hammer, Namen der Araber, p. 48).
The fame of the deed perpetuated itself in local designations, and the Ravens Rock and Wolfs Wine-press commemorate the disgrace of Midian. The Odyssea likewise speaks of a Ravens rock in Ithaca (xiii. 408), which name the scholiast derives from a fallen hunter (cf. Bochart, Hierozoicon, ii. 203); and the use of the German Rabenstein,25 is undeniably analogous. In the other name, the term jekeb (, wine-press) is borrowed from the hollow form of the object; hence, the name is here equivalent to Wolfs-hole. Similar historical allusions are supposed by the German Muse to lie concealed in Worms (from Wurme, slain by Siegfried) and in Drachenfels (cf. Grimm, D. Heldens., pp. 155, 316).
In Haurn, Wetzstein heard the name el-Gurb, the Raven, applied to a spent volcano (p. 16); and Castle Kerek, at the south end of the Dead Sea, was called Hisnal-gorab, Ravens-castle (Ritter, xiv.1042).
The important remark in Jdg 7:25, that the heads of the two princes were brought to Gideon from beyond the Jordan, induces the hope that the name and location of the Ravens-rock may yet be traced. The waters which Ephraim occupied, must have been those now known as Wady el-Faria. Below this wady, there is to this day a much used ford (Ritter, xv. 449); while over against it, on the eastern bank of the Jordan, there is the steep height of Jebel Ajln, overlooking the Ghor, and commanding the confluent valleys (Ritter, xv. 369). On this height there are the ruins of a castle, of which Ibrahim Pasha still availed himself to hold the robber hordes in check, and which (according to the reports of various travellers on this yet but imperfectly known locality) bore the name of Kalaat-er Rabbad, or Rabua. The Ephraimites, charged with the occupation of the Jordan, had crossed over and seized on this important point in order fully to command the Jordan valley. Here they captured the princes Raven and Wolf. The Ravens-rock was still known by this name in the time of Isaiah (see Isa 10:26); and in the corrupted designation Rabua, a similarity of sound with Oreb or Gorab may be traced. The exploit was swift and fortunate. Gideon in his pursuit was still on this side of the Jordan; while he was making a halt before crossing over, the Ephraimites were already returning in triumph from the opposite shore, bringing with them the heads of the slain princes. All other explanations, as found among others in Bertheau and Keil also, fail to harmonize satisfactorily with the connection. The narrator designedly adds the words from beyond Jordan, that the reader may know that Ephraim had gained the great triumph, before Gideon could so much as cross the river. This passing remark helps to prepare the reader for the opening narrative of Judges 8. It foreshadows the pride and selfishness of Ephraim. Finally, that Ephraim was beyond the Jordan, and there captured the hostile chieftains, is evident even from the words (Jdg 7:25), they pursued Midian; for as they held the Jordan and the waters, they could only pursue those who had passed the river.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
After his first victory over idolatry in his fathers house, Gideon has courage for the second, over enemies in the field. He seeks the few, not the many. He knows that help comes from God, not from the multitude; and because he knows this, he conquers. The countless host of enemies vanishes like dustnot because of his three hundred: the terrors of God dissolve them, and turn them against each other. Doubtless, Gideon was also a hero of the sword; but first Gods deedthen mans. Therefore he succeeds in everything, from first to last. Gideon is not envious of God, as Ephraim is of him. To God belongs the glory, first and last.
[Bp. Hall: Now, when we would look that Gideon should give charge of whetting their swords, and sharping their spears, and fitting their armor, he only gives order for empty pitchers, and lights, and trumpets. The cracking of these pitchers shall break in pieces this Midianitish clay; the kindling of these lights shall extinguish the light of Midian; these trumpets sound no other than a soul-peal to all the host of Midian: there shall need nothing but noise and light to confound this innumerable army. And if the pitchers, and brands, and trumpets of Gideon, did so daunt and dismay the proud troops of Midian and Amalek, who can we think shall be able to stand before the last terror, wherein the trumpet of the archangel shall sound, and the heavens shall pass away with a noise, and the elements shall be on a flame about our ears?The same: Those two and twenty thousand Israelites that slipped away for fear, when the fearful Midianites fled, can pursue and kill them, and can follow them at the heels, whom they durst not look at in the face. Our flight gives advantage to the feeblest adversary, whereas our resistance foileth the greatest.Scott: In this world, the wicked are often left under the power of their own delusions and the fury of their mad passions, to avenge the cause of God on each other: a period is approaching, when we may expect that the persecuting foes of Christianity will destroy one another, whilst the host of Israel shall look on, and have nothing to do but to blow the trumpet of the gospel.Wordsworth: Gideon has only three hundred men, and Christs church is called a little flock, and their foes are innumerable; but their countless myriads melt away, dispersed by the breath of God.The same: The princes of Midian represent the spiritual enemies of the Church. Is it by chance that they were called Oreb, the Raven, and Zeeb, the Wolf? The Raven is contrasted with the Dove in the history of the Flood (see Gen 8:7) as an unclean bird (cf. Lev 11:15); and in the N. T. the Wolf is the emblem of those false teachers who tear and devour the flock of Christ.Theodoret (as quoted by Wordsworth): Gideon overcame Midian with unarmed soldiers, bearing only trumpets, torches, and pitchers. So Christ overcame the world by unarmed apostles, bearing the trumpet of preaching and the torch of miracleTr.]
Footnotes:
[18]Josephus also understands it thus: . His further interpretation, however, can scarcely be followed.
[19][Cf. Thomson, The Land and the Book, ii. 166Tr.]
[20][Wordsworth: The tent was an expressive emblem of the Midianites, being nomads; their tent was their all in all. Their wives, their children, their cattle, their goods their vesture, their treasure, were all collected in it and about it.Tr.]
[21]schylus (pers, 188, etc.) represents poetically the forebodings and dreams of Atossa concerning the impending disaster of Xerxes; but the moral view, that such dreams were inspired by the evil conscience of the conquest-loving tyrant, and that the insignificant people triumphed through God, is wanting.
[22][Our author treats as a plural, and translates: they worshipped. The form is undoubtedly singular, cf. Gen 23:7; Gen 24:52; etc., and is so regarded by most grammarians, Ges. Gram. 75 Rem. 18; Green, 176, 1. Frst, however, both in his Lexicon and in his Hebrew Concordance treats it as plural. In his Lexicon, s. v. , he says: ; plural, sometimes , in pause , sometimes .Tr.]
[23][Dr. Thomson remarks (L. & B. ii. 166): I have often seen the small oil lamp of the natives carried in a pitcher or earthern vessel at night. But the of this history can scarcely be oil lamps, for which would be more appropriate. A better explanation is suggested by the following note in Smiths Bible Dict. (Art. Gideon): It is curious to find lamps and pitchers in use for a similar purpose at this very day in the streets of Cairo. The Zabit or Agha of the police carries with him at night, a torch which burns, soon after it is lighted, without a flame, excepting when it is waved through the air, when it suddenly blazes forth; it therefore answers the same purpose as our dark lantern. The burning end is sometimes concealed in a small pot or jar, or covered with something else, when not required to give light (Lane, Mod. Egypt., i. ch. iv.)Tr.]
[24]A similar maneuver terrified the inhabitants of Herum in Achaia, when Diotas besieged them. Polynus, ii. 36.
[25]A place of this name occurs in Carinthia as early as the eleventh century (Frstemann, ii. 768).
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Jdg 7:12 And the 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.
Ver. 12. Like grasshoppers. ] See Jdg 6:5 . So were the Persians that came against Greece, under the conduct of Xerxes: but they were utterly discomfited. See many such examples of huge armies routed by small forces in Alex. ab Alexandro, Genial. dier., lib. vi. cap. 25.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Amalekites. See note on Exo 17:16.
children = sons.
grasshoppers = locusts.
as the sand, &c. Figure of speech Paroemia.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Midianites: Jdg 6:3, Jdg 6:5, Jdg 6:33, 1Ki 4:30
grasshoppers: Jdg 8:10, 2Ch 14:9-12, Psa 3:1, Psa 33:16, Psa 118:10-12, Isa 8:9, Isa 8:10
Reciprocal: Gen 29:1 – came Gen 41:49 – General Jos 11:4 – as the sand 1Sa 13:5 – as the sand 1Ki 4:29 – as the sand Job 1:3 – men Isa 60:6 – multitude Jer 46:23 – because Jer 49:29 – camels Eze 25:4 – men Hab 1:9 – they shall gather Heb 11:12 – as the sand Rev 9:3 – locusts Rev 20:8 – the number
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
God’s provision of encouragement 7:12-14
Gideon and his servant heard two enemy soldiers conversing on the outskirts of the Midianite camp. One soldier was relating a dream he had had to his friend. The writer probably included the reference to the apparently innumerable Midianite enemy (Jdg 7:12) to emphasize the greatness of the victory God gave His people.
"Dreams were considered of great importance in ancient times, especially if the dreamer was a man of rank or authority, for the gods were conceived to make known their will or desires by this means. Every dream was believed to be capable of interpretation, though this was, of course, the point where difficulties arose." [Note: Cundall and Morris, p. 111.]
Yahweh obviously sent this dream. The Midianite soldier derived his interpretation of his friend’s dream from the symbolism in the dream. Barley bread was the food of the poor and would have been the staple of the Israelites under the conditions they had to endure during Midian’s oppression. The tent was the home of all the Midianite, Amalekite, and Arabian Bedouins. The soldiers had obviously heard of Gideon and his plans to engage them in battle. They therefore concluded that the unlikely destruction of the tent by a mere loaf of barley bread signified Gideon’s destruction of their forces.
"What Gideon sought to gain by the sign of the fleece was brought to nil. So he had to go back to the choice to believe God’s promise simply because God had spoken. . . . The irony is stunning: hearing the promise directly from the Lord did not convince Gideon, but hearing it from the Midianite soldier did." [Note: Tanner, p. 159.]