F R¹ 6:1-10. Midian. R² 6:11–8:35. Gideon.
R¹ g 1-. the evil wrought. h -1-. The oppressor. i -1. Servitude (seven years). h 2-6-. The oppression. g -6-10. The evil repented of.1265-1225 B.C.
and the Lord (Yehovah) delivered them into the hand of Midian
seven years.
1225-1218 B.C.
2: And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the sons of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, the strong holds.
3: And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the sons of the east, even they came up against them;
4: And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
5: For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as locusts for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
6: And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites;
and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord (Yehovah).
7: And it came to pass, when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord (Yehovah) because of the Midianites,
1219-1218 B.C.
8: That the Lord (Yehovah) sent a prophet (Heb. "a man [’îsh] a prophet") to the sons of Israel, which said to them, “ ‘Thus says the Lord God (Yehovah Elohim) of Israel, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage (Heb. bondmen);
9: And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10: And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim); fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you all dwell:’ but you all have not obeyed My voice.’ ”
R² S¹ 6:11–7:18. The Deliverer. Raised up. T¹ 7:19–8:23. Deliverance. S² 8:24-27. The Deliverer. Rewarded. T² 8:28. Rest (forty years). S³ 8:29-35. The Deliverer. Forgotten.
S¹ U j 6:11-16. Angel of Yehovah. Message to Gideon. k 6:17-24. Sign. Fire. l 6:25-27. Command. V m 6:28-32. Obedience of Gideon. n 6:33. Midiantes. U j 6:34,35. Spirit of Yehovah. Message to tribes. k 6:36-40. Signs. Fleece. l 7:1-11. Directions. V n 7:12-14. Midianites. m 7:15-18. Obedience of Gideon.
j o¹ 11-. Angel. Place. p¹ -11. Gideon. Employment. o² 12. Angel. Encouragement. p² 13. Gideon. Complaint. o³ 14. Angel. Mission. p³ 15. Gideon. Question. o4 16. Angel. Answer.
11: And there came an Angel of the Lord (Yehovah), and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah (as being well known), that pertained to Joash (= Yehovah gave) the Abi-ezrite:
and his son Gideon (= cutter down) threshed wheat in the winepress (shows the straits of the people. Cp. vv.2-6. Threshing-floor exposed, winepress sunk in ground), to hide it from the Midianites.
12: And the Angel of the Lord (Yehovah) appeared to him (i.e. the Covenant God "with" His servant [Gideon]. Cp. v.20 = Angel of God, the Creator working a miracle for His creature), and said to him, “The Lord (Yehovah) is with you, you mighty man of valour.” (Heb. gibbõr)
13: And Gideon said to Him, “Oh my Lord (Adonai), if the Lord (Yehovah) be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Did not Yehvah bring us up from Egypt?’ but now Yehovah has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14: And the Lord (Yehovah) looked upon him, and said, “Go in this your might (his might lay in the knowledge of Yehovah's strength [v13] and his own weakness), and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent you?”
15: And he said to Him, “Oh Lord (Yehovah), wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family (= 1,000 [1 Sam.10:19]) is the meanest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”
16: And the Lord (Yehovah) said to him, “Surely I will be with you (cp. Ex.3:12. Isa.7:14. Matt.1:23), and you shall smite the Midianites as one man.”
k q¹ 17,18-. Gideon. Request. r¹ -18. Angel. Compliance. q² 19. Gideon. Offering. r² 20,21. Angel. Acceptance. q³ 22. Gideon. Fear. r³ 23. Angel. Assrance. q4 24. Gideon. Worship.
17: And he said to him, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, then show me a sign that You are the Lord (Yehovah) Who talks with me.
18: Depart not from this place, I pray You, until I come to You, and bring forth my present (Heb. minchah. = the Meal offering. Hence a gift offering, not necessarily to secure admittance, but to secure favour), and set it before You.”
And He said, “I will tarry until you come again.”
19: And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid of the goats, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour (for offering: quickly made): the flesh he put in the tray (Heb. sal, always connected with royalty, or sacrifice), and he put the broth in the pot, and brought it out to Him under the oak, and presented it.
20: And the Angel of God (Elohim) (see note on v.12) said to him, ”Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
21: Then the Angel of the Lord (Yehovah) put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up the fire out of the rock (this fire was the token of Yehovah's acceptance. See note on "respect", Gen.4:4), and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the Angel of the Lord (Yehovah) departed out of his sight.
22: And when Gideon perceived that He was an Angel of the Lord (Yehovah), Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God (Adonai Yehovah)! forasmuch as I have seen an Angel of the Lord (Yehovah) face to face.”
23: And the Lord (Yehovah) said to him, “Peace be to you; fear not: you shall not die.”
24: Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord (Yehovah), and called it Yehovah-shalom (= Yehovah gives peace): to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
25: And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord (Yehovah) said to him, “Take your father's young bullock, and the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the asherah that is by it (see Ex.34:13):
26: And build an altar to the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) upon the top of this strong place, in the ordered place (or due order), and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.”
27: Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did accordng as the Lord (Yehovah) had said to him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
28: And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
29: And they said one to another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”
30: Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die: because he has cast down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the asherah that was by it.”
31: And Joash said to all that stood against him, “Will you all plead for Baal? will you all save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one has cast down his altar.”
32: Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal (Lit. Let Baal plead. 1 sam.12:11. 2 Sam.11:21), saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has thrown down his altar.”
33: Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
34: But the Spirit (= Rûach) of the Lord (Yehovah) clothed Gideon (1 Chron.12:18. 2 Chron.24:20. Heb. labash, to put on as to fill), and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered by proclomation after him.
35: And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
k s 36,37. Request. t 38. Compliance. s 39. Request. t 40. Compliance.
36: And Gideon said to God (Elohim), “If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said,
37: Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the threshing-floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
38: And it was so: for he rose up early on the next day, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39: And Gideon said to God (Elohim), “Let not Your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray You, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.”
40: And God ( Elohim) did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
l u 1. Gideon. Obedence. v w¹ 2,3-. Yehovah's objection. x¹ -3. Result. w² 4. Yehovah's objection. x² 5,6. Result. w³ 7. Yehovah's selection x³ 8. Result. u 9-11. Gideon. Command.
7)
1: Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the People that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the camp of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
2: And the Lord (Yehovah) said to Gideon, “The People that are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me (this is the real reason for this direction), saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3: Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the People, saying, ‘Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead.’ ” (What was more natural than the half tribe of Manasseh on the west side of Jordan should name a mount in their tribe in compliment to the famous mount on the east side? [Gen.31:21-25; 37:25. Num.32:1,40. Deut.3:15. Josh.17:1]. Gideon was of that tribe. Probably "the wood of Ephraim", on east side; so named here out of the complimet to the half tribe on west side [2 Sam.18:6])
And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand (probably 20 + 2,000. Cp. 12:6. 1 Sam.6:19. If there remained 10,000, there must have been 10,000 + 2,020 = 12,020;, and, as only 300 remained, 9,700 must have gone away at the second testing. Only 1,000 of each tribe = 12,000, sent out to fight in Num.31:4,5); and there remained ten thousand.
4: And the Lord (Yehovah) said to Gideon, “The People are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there: and it shall be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomsoever I say to you, ‘This shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.”
5: So he brought down the People to the water: and the Lord (Yehovah) said to Gideon, “Every one that lapps of the water with his tongue (i.e. without kneeling down as idolaters were accustomed to do [Kings 19:18. 2 Chron.29:9. See note on Est.3:2), according as a dog lapps, him shall you set by himself; likewise every one that bows down upon his knees to drink.”
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 (Yehovah) said to Gideon, “By the three hundred (#300 = 3 [= Divine perfection] X 100 [= God's election of grace, children of promise) men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand: and let all the other People go every man to his place.”
8: So the People (so the 300 are called) took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
9: And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord (Yehovah) said to him, “Arise, get you down to the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand.
10: But if you fear to go down, go you with Phurah (= bough) your servant down to the camp:
11: And you shall hear what they say; and afterward shall your hands be strengthened to go down unto the host.” Then went he down with Phurah his servant to the outside of the armed men that were in the camp.
12: And the Midianites and the Amalekites (see Ex.17:16) and all the sons of the east lay along in the valley like locust 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 to his fellow (see Gen.20:3), and said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.”
14: And his fellow answered and said, “This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand has God (Elohim) (because in connection with Midianites, His creatures. Not Yehovah) delivered Midian, and all the camp.”
15: And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, “Arise; for Yehovah has delivered into your hand the host of Midian.”
16: And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches within the pitchers (which smoulder till waved in the air).
17: And he said to 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 you all do.
18: When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow you all the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord (Yehovah), and of Gideon.’ ” (These words are supplied by the Fig. Ellipsis from v.20. But some codices with Aram. and Syr., read these words in the text. Lit. "For Yehovah and for Gideon".)
T¹ y 7:19,20. The assault. z a 7:21,22. Midianite host. Flight. b 7:23. Pursuit by Naphtali. y 7:24,25. The victory. z b 8:1-12. Pursuit by Gidon. a 8:13-23. Midianite kings. Capture.
19: So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came to 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 broke the pitchers that were in their hands.
20: And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, “The sword of the Lord (Yehovah), and of Gideon.” (Lit. "A sword for Yehovah and Gideon)
21: And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the camp ran, and cried, and fled.
22: And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord (Yehovah) set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the camp: and the camp fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abel-meholah, to Tabbath.
23: And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
24: And Gideon sent messengers throughout all hill country Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters to Beth-barah and Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters to Beth-barah and Jordan.
25: And they took two princes of the Midianites (cp. Ps.83:11. Isa.10:26), Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
z c 1-3. Men of Ephraim, and Gideon. d e g 4-7. Succoth. Colloquy. h 8,9. Penuel. Colloquy. f 10-12. Kings taken. d e g 13-16. Succoth. Retribution. h 17. Penuel. Retribution. f 18-21. Kings slain. c 22,23. Men of Israel, and Gideon.
8)
1: And the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you served us thus, that you called us not, when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they did chide with him sharply (this was the beginning of the strife which ended in the division of the kingdom [1 Kings 12]).
2: And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer?
3: God (Elohim) has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian (Elohim delivered His creatures; not Yehovah the Covenant-God), Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you?” Then their anger (Heb. rûach, spirit, Fig.put for the angry manifestation of it) was abated toward him, when he had said that.
4: And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.
5: And he said to the folk of Succoth (Heb. = booths), “Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
6: And the princes of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
7: And Gideon said, “Therefore when the Lord (Yehovah) has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”
8: And he went up from that place to Penuel (Heb. = face of El [God]), and spoke to them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.
9: And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”
10: Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the camps of the sons of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
11: And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the camp: for the camp was secure.
12: And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the camp.
13: And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up,
14: And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described to him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.
15: And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom you all did upbraid me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men that are weary?’ ”
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.
17: And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
18: Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What manner of men were they whom you all slew at Tabor?” And they answered, “As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of the king.”
19: And he said, “They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as Yehovah lives, if you all had saved them alive, I would not slay you.”
20: And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Up, and slay them.” But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
21: Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise you, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks (cresent-shaped ornaments used still on the necks of horses and camels).
22: Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also: for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
23: And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord (Yehovah) shall rule over you.”
24: And Gideon said to them, “I would desire a request of you, that you all would give me every man the earrings of his prey.” (Heb. nezem. Any ring worn in the ear or nose = a nose-ring in Gen.24:47. Prov.11:22. Isa.3:11. Ezek.16:12; and "earring" in Gen.35:4. and Ex.32:2. Other passages doubtful [v.25. Job 42:11. Prov.25:12. Hos.2:13]) {For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites (this parenthetical remark solves the difficulty of Gen.37:25,28,36, and 39:1. Ishmael and Midian were half-brothers, sons of Abraha by Haga and Keturah [Gen.16:11,12; 25:1,2]. All Midianites were Ishmaelites, but all Ishmaelites were not Midianites. ).}
25: And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
26: And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold (= aprox. 34 pounds); beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.
27: And Gideon made an ephod thereof (probably the priests were lax in restoring the worship of the true God. So that Gideon would have meant well and desired to rule well. Cp. 17:5, where Micah made another. The reason given being that, "there was no king, and every man did what was right in his own eyes", 17:6; and 18:5, where it was used to, ask council"; and for the same reason, 18:1), and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went to tat place a whoring after it: which thing became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.
28: Thus was Midian subdued before the sons of Israel, so that they made no more attemps to vex. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon (see 3:11).
1218 to 1178 B.C.
29: And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
30: And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
31: And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech (= father of the king).
32: And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
33: And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim (= lords), and made Baal-berith (= the covenant of Baal [= lord]) their god.
34: And the sons of Israel remembered not the Lord (Yehovah) their God (Elohim), Who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
35: Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed to Israel.