Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Judges 8

Introduction

1  Gideon pacifies the Ephraimites.
4  Succoth and Penuel refuse to deliver Gideon's army.
10  Zebah and Zalmunna are taken.
13  Succoth and Penuel are destroyed.
17  Gideon revenges his brethren's death on Zebah and Zalmunna.
22  He refuses government.
24  His ephod the cause of idolatry.
28  Midian subdued.
29  Gideon's children, and death.
33  The Israelites' idolatry and ingratitude.
Verse 1

And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.
the men
12:1-6, 2 Samuel 19:41, Job 5:2, Ecclesiastes 4:4, James 4:5,6
Why, etc
Heb. What thing is this thou hast done unto us? sharply. Heb. strongly.
Verse 2

And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
What
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Galatians 5:14,15, Philippians 2:2,3, James 1:19,20, 3:13-18
Is not the
That is, the Ephraimites have performed more important services than Gideon and his men had achieved.
Abiezer
6:11,34
Verse 3

God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.
God
7:24,25, Psalms 44:3, 115:1, 118:14-16, John 4:37, Romans 12:3,6, 15:18,19, Philippians 2:3
Then
Proverbs 15:1, 16:32, 25:11,15
anger
Heb. spirit.
Verse 4

And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.
faint
1 Samuel 14:28,29,31,32, 30:10, 2 Corinthians 4:8,9,16, Galatians 6:9, Hebrews 12:1-4
Verse 5

And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
Succoth
Genesis 33:17, Psalms 60:6
loaves
Genesis 14:18, Deuteronomy 23:4, 1 Samuel 25:18, 2 Samuel 17:28,29, 3 John 1:6-8
Verse 6

And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army?
5:23, Genesis 25:13, 37:25,28, 1 Samuel 25:10,11, 1 Kings 20:11, 2 Kings 14:9, Proverbs 18:23, Philippians 2:21
Verse 7

And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
tear
Heb. thresh.
Verse 8

And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.
Genesis 32:30,31, 1 Kings 12:25
Verse 9

And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
I come
1 Kings 22:27,28
I will break
Verse 10

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
Karkor
If this were the name of a place, it is no where else mentioned. Some contend that karkor signifies rest; and the Vulgate renders it requiescebant, "rested". This seems the most likely; for it is said (ver. 11) that Gideon "smote the host: for the host was secure."
children
7:12
fell an hundred, etc
or, an hundred and twenty thousand, every one drawing a sword
7:22, 20:2,15,17,25,35,46, 2 Kings 3:26, 2 Chronicles 13:17, 28:6,8, Isaiah 37:36
Verse 11

And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure.
Nobah
Nobah took its name from an Israelite who conquered it; and is said by Eusebius to have been, in his time, a forsaken place eight miles south from Heshbon. Jogbehah was probably near it.
Numbers 32:35,42
secure
18:27, 1 Samuel 15:32, 30:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Verse 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 host.
took
Joshua 10:16-18,22-25, Job 12:16-21, 34:19, Psalms 83:11, Amos 2:14, Revelation 6:15,16, 19:19-21
discomfited
Heb. terrified.
Verse 13

And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up,
before
The words milmäâleh haichaires should, most probably be rendered "from the ascent of Chares;" which is the reading of the LXX. Syriac, Arabic, and Houbigant.
Verse 14

And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.
caught
1:24,25, 1 Samuel 30:11-15
described
Heb. writ.
Verse 15

And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?
upbraid
6,7
Verse 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.
the elders
7, Proverbs 10:13, 19:29, Ezra 2:6
thorns
Micah 7:4
taught
Heb. made to know. Instead of wyyodâ, Houbigant, Le Clerc, and others read wyyadosh, "and he tore or threshed;" and this is not only agreeable to what Gideon threatened (ver. 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 [Shîyn] shin, into ['Ayin] ayin, letters very similar to each other.
Verse 17

And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
9, 1 Kings 12:25
Verse 18

Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.
Tabor
4:6, Psalms 89:12
As thou art
Psalms 12:2, Jude 1:16
resembled
Heb. according to the form of, etc.
Verse 20

And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
Joshua 10:24, 1 Samuel 15:33, Psalms 149:9
Verse 21

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, 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.
Rise thou
It was disgraceful to fall by the hands of a child; and death by the blows of such a person must be much more lingering and tormenting. Some have employed children to dispatch captives.
9:54, 1 Samuel 31:3,5, Revelation 9:6
slew
Psalms 83:1
ornaments
or, ornaments like the moon.
Isaiah 3:18
Verse 22

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
Rule thou
9:8-15, 1 Samuel 8:5, 12:12, John 6:15
Verse 23

And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.
I will
2:18, 10:18, 11:9-11, Luke 22:24-27, 2 Corinthians 1:24, 1 Peter 5:3
the Lord
1 Samuel 8:6,7, 10:19, 12:12, Isaiah 33:22, 63:19
Verse 24

And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
give me
Genesis 24:22,53, Exodus 12:35, 32:3, 1 Peter 3:3-5
because
Genesis 16:10,11, 25:13, 37:25,28, 1 Samuel 25:11, 1 Kings 20:11
Verse 26

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.
a thousand
Taking the shekel at half an ounce, the sum of the gold ear-rings was 73 lbs. 4oz. and worth about £3,300 sterling.
collars
or, sweet jewels. purple.
Esther 8:15, Jeremiah 10:9, Ezekiel 27:7, Luke 16:19, John 19:2,5, Revelation 17:4, Revelation 18:12,16
chains
Verse 27

And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
an ephod
17:5, 18:14,17, Exodus 28:6-12, 1 Samuel 23:9,10, Isaiah 8:20
Ophrah
32, 6:11,24, Deuteronomy 12:5
a whoring
Exodus 23:33, Psalms 73:27, 106:39, Hosea 2:2, 4:12-14
a snare
33, Deuteronomy 7:16
Verse 28

Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.
was Midian
Psalms 83:9-12, Isaiah 9:4, 10:26
forty years
3:11,30, 5:31
Verse 29

And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
Jerubbaal
6:32, 1 Samuel 12:11
in his own house
Nehemiah 5:14,15
Verse 30

And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
threescore
9:2,5, 10:4, 12:9,14, Genesis 46:26, Exodus 1:5, 2 Kings 10:1
of his body begotten
Heb. going out of his thigh. many wives.
Genesis 2:24, 7:7, Deuteronomy 17:17, 2 Samuel 3:2-5, 5:13-16, 1 Kings 11:3, Malachi 2:15, Matthew 19:5-8, Ephesians 5:31-33
Verse 31

And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
concubine
9:1-5, Genesis 16:15, 22:24
called
Heb. set. Abimelech.
9:18, Genesis 20:2
Verse 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 Abiezrites.
died in
Genesis 15:15, 25:8, Joshua 24:29,30, Job 5:26, 42:17
Ophrah
27, 6:24
Verse 33

And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.
as soon
2:7-10,17,19, Joshua 24:31, 2 Kings 12:2, 2 Chronicles 24:17,18
went
27, 2:17, Exodus 34:15,16, Jeremiah 3:9
Baal-berith
Literally, "the lord of the covenant."
9:4,46
Verse 34

And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
remembered
Psalms 78:11,42, 106:18,21, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Jeremiah 2:32
Verse 35

Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.
shewed
9:5,16-19, Ecclesiastes 9:14,15
Jerubbaal
Rather, Jerubbaal Gideon; as we say, Simon Peter; or call a person by his Christian and surname. Gideon was a mighty man of valour, a true patriot, evidently disinterested and void of ambition. He loved his country, and hazarded his life for it; but refused the kingdom, when offered to him and his heirs. The act of making the ephod was totally wrong; yet, probably it was done with no reprehensible design.

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