Discovery BoxJudges 7:6-25
Context7:6 Three hundred men lapped; 1 the rest of the men 2 kneeled to drink water. 7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army 3 and I will hand Midian over to you. 4 The rest of the men should go home.” 5 7:8 The men 6 who were chosen 7 took supplies 8 and their trumpets. Gideon 9 sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; 10 he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites 11 were camped down below 12 in the valley.
7:9 That night the Lord said to Gideon, 13 “Get up! Attack 14 the camp, for I am handing it over to you. 15 7:10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant 7:11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave 16 and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp. 17 7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. 18 Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. 19 The man 20 said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw 21 a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” 22 7:14 The other man said, 23 “Without a doubt this symbolizes 24 the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. 25 Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. 26 He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. 27 7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! 28 I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp 29 at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. 30 7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. 31 Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order 32 all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 33 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords 34 throughout 35 the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went 36 to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. 37
7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. 38 Take control of the fords of the streams 39 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” 40 When all the Ephraimites had assembled, 41 they took control of the fords 42 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. 43 They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb 44 in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites 45 and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. 46
[7:6] 1 tc The Hebrew text adds, “with their hands to their mouths,” This makes no sense in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would use their hands). It seems likely that the words “with their hands to their mouths” have been misplaced from v. 6. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place.
[7:7] 3 tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
[7:7] 4 tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
[7:7] 5 tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
[7:8] 7 tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:8] 8 tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”
[7:8] 9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:8] 12 tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).
[7:9] 13 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:9] 14 tn Heb “Go down against.”
[7:9] 15 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
[7:11] 16 tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
[7:11] 17 tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
[7:12] 18 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
[7:13] 19 tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
[7:13] 20 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:13] 21 tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
[7:13] 22 tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”
[7:14] 23 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[7:14] 24 tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”
[7:15] 25 tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”
[7:16] 27 tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:19] 29 tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”
[7:19] 30 tn Heb “that were in their hands.”
[7:20] 31 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:21] 32 tn Heb “each in his place.”
[7:22] 34 tn Heb “the
[7:22] 35 tc MT has “and throughout the camp,” but the conjunction (“and”) is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.
[7:22] 36 tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:24] 38 tn Heb “to meet Midian.”
[7:24] 39 tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”
[7:24] 40 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).
[7:24] 41 tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”
[7:24] 42 tn Heb “they captured the waters.”
[7:25] 43 sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.
[7:25] 44 tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:25] 46 tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).
