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Texts -- Judges 8:1-19 (NET)

Context
8:1 The Ephraimites said to him, “Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us when you went to fight the Midianites !” They argued vehemently with him. 8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest ! 8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals , Oreb and Zeeb ! What did I accomplish to rival that?” When he said this , they calmed down .
Gideon Tracks Down the Midianite Kings
8:4 Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River , and even though they were exhausted , they were still chasing the Midianites. 8:5 He said to the men of Succoth , “Give some loaves of bread to the men who are following me, because they are exhausted . I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna , the kings of Midian .” 8:6 The officials of Succoth said , “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna . So why should we give bread to your army ?” 8:7 Gideon said , “Since you will not help , after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh your skin with desert thorns and briers .” 8:8 He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request . The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. 8:9 He also threatened the men of Penuel , warning , “When I return victoriously , I will tear down this tower .” 8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies . There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples ; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed . 8:11 Gideon went up the road of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army . 8:12 When Zebah and Zalmunna ran away , Gideon chased them and captured the two Midianite kings , Zebah and Zalmunna . He had surprised their entire army . 8:13 Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass of Heres . 8:14 He captured a young man from Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth’s officials and city leaders – seventy-seven men in all. 8:15 He approached the men of Succoth and said , “Look what I have! Zebah and Zalmunna ! You insulted me, saying , ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna . So why should we give bread to your exhausted men ?’” 8:16 He seized the leaders of the city , along with some desert thorns and briers ; he then “threshed ” the men of Succoth with them. 8:17 He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city’s men . 8:18 He said to Zebah and Zalmunna , “Describe for me the men you killed at Tabor .” They said , “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son .” 8:19 He said , “They were my brothers , the sons of my mother . I swear, as surely as the Lord is alive , if you had let them live , I would not kill you.”

Pericope

NET
  • Jdg 8:4-21 -- Gideon Tracks Down the Midianite Kings

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • A major significance of this literary unit is that it describes two more challenges to God's faithfulness and Abram's faith. So far Abram had had to contend with several barriers to God's fulfilling His promises to him. His w...
  • Joshua reveals that victory, success, and progress result when God's people trust and obey Him consistently. Judges shows that defeat, failure, and retrogression follow when they fail to trust and obey consistently. In this r...
  • I. The reason for Israel's apostasy 1:1-3:6A. Hostilities between the Israelites and the Canaanites after Joshua's death 1:1-2:51. Initial successes and failures ch. 12. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5B. Israel's c...
  • The first major section in the book (1:1-3:6) explains very clearly why the period of the judges was a dark chapter in Israel's history. God revealed the reasons for Israel's apostasy and consequent national problems in terms...
  • Israel's JudgesJudgeScriptureIsrael's OppressorsLength in YearsNation(s)King(s)OppressionJudgeshipPeaceOthniel3:7-11MesopotamiaCushan-rishathaim8(ca. 1358-1350 B.C.)40(ca. 1350-1310 B.C.)Ehud3:12-30Moab (with Ammon & Amal...
  • The writer of Judges structured this book so the story of Gideon would be its focal center."Within the main body of the book, seven major narrative blocks can be noted. Moreover, there are certain parallel features between th...
  • Tanner also pointed out that the Gideon narrative consists of five primary structural sections."The first section (6:1-10) provides the introduction and setting before Gideon's debut, the second section (6:11-32) gives the co...
  • Some time later Israel's enemies from the East again crossed the Jordan and massed their forces in the Valley of Jezreel near Gideon's home (v. 33). They numbered 135,000, or 135 units, depending on the meaning of elephhere (...
  • Presumably God willingly gave Gideon the signs of the fleece because He knew the command He would give him to reduce his army would stretch his faith to its limit. The Israelite soldiers numbered only 32,000 (or 32 units, v. ...
  • God then commanded Gideon to prepare for battle that very night (v. 9). He offered the judge a further sign that He would be victorious, and Gideon immediately seized it. God did not rebuke Gideon's normal fear of going into ...
  • Gideon had not invited the men of Ephraim to join him when he recruited the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali (6:35). I assume he did this at the Lord's command since he did not need more soldiers. The men of E...
  • Succoth and Penuel (a variant of Peniel, cf. Gen. 32:30) were towns that stood on the east side of the Jordan beside the Jabbok River. The residents of these villages lived closer to the Midianites than most of the Israelites...
  • The ascent of Heres (v. 13) appears to have been an inclined roadway or pass leading to that town presumably in the Jabbok Valley near Penuel and Succoth. Gideon's severe punishment of the men of these towns was just. They ha...
  • Gideon took his prisoners back to Ophrah where the following events evidently took place. The Midianite kings had apparently executed Gideon's brothers sometime before the recent battle, perhaps during one of the Midianites' ...
  • Even though the next events recorded (vv. 22-28) followed immediately the ones just reported (vv. 18-21), they had greater significance in later years than at that moment in history....
  • The Israelites felt the main influence of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River that bordered Ammon (v. 8). However the Ammonites also attacked the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim west of the Jordan (v. 9)...
  • Verses 1-33 record Jephthah's success. The rest of his story (11:34-12:7) relates his failure. The writer likewise recorded Gideon's success first (6:1-8:23) and then his failure (8:24-9:57). We shall find a similar pattern w...
  • The writer's emphasis now shifts from Jephthah's foolishness to Ephraim's arrogance.The Ephraimites were the Gileadites' neighbors to the west. They resented the fact that Jephthah had not requested their assistance in the wa...
  • The following two extended incidents (ch. 17-21) differ from the records of the judges just completed (chs. 3-16). They are not accounts of the activities of any of Israel's judges. They are the record of events that took pla...
  • The Danites' defeat of the inhabitants of Laish appears cruel and unjustified (cf. 9:45-49). The town that seemed so desirable to the spies was really vulnerable and isolated. Its advantages proved to be weaknesses. Since God...
  • The phrase "from Dan to Beersheba"(v. 1) became a common expression during the united monarchy indicating the whole of Israel. Gilead refers to the part of Israel east of the Jordan River. The Mizpah referred to here (v. 1) w...
  • The Book of Joshua recorded Israel's victory over her enemies through trust in and obedience to God. The Book of Judges shows the defeat of the nation by its enemies from without and within due to refusal to trust and obey Go...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. Land of the Bible. Phildelphia: Westminster Press, 1962.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The...
  • The primary purpose of this chapter, I believe, is to demonstrate the superiority of Yahweh over Dagon, the fertility god of the Philistines.655:1-5 Having captured the ark the Philistines brought it from Ebenezer to their ma...
  • Controversy over who should succeed to Israel's throne raged for six years (885-880 B.C.) in Israel and threatened to consume the nation. Civil war followed Zimri's death (vv. 21-22). Omri finally overpowered Tibni and probab...
  • 83:9-12 Asaph prayed that God would deliver His people as He had in the past during the judges' period. God had destroyed the Midianites with Gideon's small band of soldiers (Judg. 7-8). Oreb and Zeeb were the Midianite comma...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • 23:1-3 The Lord gave Ezekiel a story about two sisters who had one mother (cf. Jer. 3:7). These young girls became prostitutes in Egypt and allowed men to fondle their breasts. That is, they allowed the Egyptians to become in...
  • 13:1 When members of the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other Israelites trembled because they looked to Ephraim for leadership (cf. Judg. 8:1-3; 12:1-6). Jacob had prophesied that Ephraim would lead (Gen. 48:13-20), and the fir...
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