Gideon commenced his "attack"at the beginning of the middle watch, which was evidently midnight.169Many of the Midianites would have been sound asleep and upon awakening would have felt confused by the sights and sounds of their enemies. The movements of their own men milling around the camp as a result of the recent watch change would have disoriented them further. Perhaps the camels stampeded because of the torch fire and general confusion giving the waking Midianites the impression that mounted soldiers had invaded their camp.
The Midianites felt so bewildered by this "surprise attack"that they slaughtered their fellow soldiers in the confusion and fled for home as fast as they could go (cf. 4:15-16). The towns mentioned (v. 22) were at the southeast end of the Harod (lit. trembling) Valley.170They stood on either side of the Jordan River. Zererah (v. 22) was 10 miles south of Jabesh-Gilead.171
The pursuit described in these verses may have taken several days. Gideon sent a call for reinforcements throughout the whole northern part of Canaan. Other Israelites responded and helped Gideon and his band round up and execute as many of the enemy as they could capture. Israel controlled the fords of the Jordan and slew many Midianites as they fled homeward. The Israelites also captured and executed the two leaders of the Midianite army, Oreb (lit. the Raven) and Zeeb (the Wolf), east of the Jordan.
"Among ancient nations, generals and princes often took the names of birds and beasts."172
This record of God's great deliverance of His people illustrates what God can do through one person who, though weak in faith, is willing to trust and obey Him.
"It is not our responsibility to understand how God is going to keep His word and accomplish His work. It is our responsibility to obey Him and to do what He commands."173
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 Ephraim took this omission as an insult (v. 1).174
The leaders of this tribe protested Gideon's action, ". . . less from any dissatisfied longing for booty, than from injured pride or jealousy, because Gideon had made war upon the enemy and defeated them without the co-operation of this tribe, which was striving for the leadership [in Israel]."175
". . . nothing is more common than for those who will not attempt or venture anything in the cause of God, to be ready to censure those who show more zeal and enterprise than themselves."176
Gideon responded diplomatically and satisfied the Ephraimites (v. 2). The "gleaning"of Ephraim refers to the lives and spoils the Ephraimites took from the fleeing Midianites, and the "vintage"of Abiezer refers to the Midianites that Gideon and his 300 men had defeated and slain. The Ephraimites' victory was greater too in that they had killed two Midianite commanders, Oreb and Zeeb.
It is significant, however, that Gideon based his appeal on psychology rather than theology. Why did he make no reference to God's direction of him or God's provision of victory (cf. ch. 5)? Having participated in a great deliverance, Gideon seems to have begun to exclude the Victor from His own victory. The fact that Gideon specified as the battle cry, "For the LORD and for Gideon"(7:18, 20) suggests that even then he may have wanted to take some credit for the victory.
"When the plot resumes, something seems to have happened to the character of the hero. In chaps. 6-7 we have witnessed his transformation from a fearful private citizen to a fearless agent of God, willing to take on the enemy against all odds, not to mention a sensitive diplomat. But the portrait of the man the author paints in this chapter creates a radically different impression in the reader's mind. If 8:1-32 had been handed down without the literary context in which it is embedded, modern readers would reject Gideon as a tyrant, arbitrary in his treatment of the enemy and ruthless in his handling of his own countrymen. Instead of hacking' and contending' with the enemy, Gideon/Jerubbaal contends' and hacks' his own people."177
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 did. It is understandable that they did not want to jeopardize their security by assisting Gideon who appeared to them to be much weaker than their Midianite neighbors.
"In these words [denying Gideon bread, v. 6] there is not only an expression of cowardice, or fear of the vengeance which the Midianites might take when they returned upon those who had supported Gideon and his host, but contempt of the small force which Gideon had, as if it were impossible for him to accomplish anything at all against the foe; and in this contempt they manifested their utter want of confidence in God."178
Note the spirit of regionalism that had developed in Israel since the days of Joshua. These Transjordanian Israelites showed no sense of brotherhood or national responsibility. Their lack of cooperation illustrates what both Moses and Joshua feared would happen to the Israelites who lived east of the Jordan River (Num. 32:6-15, 20-27; Josh. 22:13-20). The seeds of national disintegration had germinated.
Denied provisions by these two Israelite towns Gideon continued to pursue the remaining 15,000 Midianite soldiers (or 15 units) southeast. When he caught up with them he attacked by surprise (v. 11). Perhaps the Midianites had not expected Gideon to pursue them so far, 20 miles east of the Jordan River. The Israelites presumably had not done so when the Midianites had conducted their yearly raids in the past. Gideon routed the remnant of the Midianite alliance and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna.
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 had selfishly refused to assist God's appointed judge in His holy war for Yahweh's glory and His people's good. They had also shown contempt for the soldiers God had signally honored with supernatural victory. It was Gideon's duty as a judge in Israel to punish these compromising and selfish cities. The severity of his punishment doubtless impressed the other Israelites with the seriousness of their offense. However, one cannot miss the contrast between Gideon's impatience and ruthlessness with the Israelites and Yahweh's patience and grace with His people.
"Gideon's behavior could be justified if Penuel were a Canaanite city, but these were fellow Israelites! His character has been transformed again--he acted like a general out of control, no longer bound by rules of civility, let alone national loyalty."179
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' previous raids. It seems that Gideon was unable to avenge his brothers' deaths then due, most likely, to the Midianites' superiority. Now Gideon had the upper hand.
Gideon appears to have been an imposing person physically. The Midianite kings said his brothers resembled him and looked like the sons of a king, perhaps poised and aristocratic in bearing. Another explanation is that the enemy kings hoped to gain Gideon's favor by flattery. This seems unlikely since Gideon recognized his brothers by their description (v. 19). Gideon probably would not have applied the lex talionisas he did here if his brothers had died in battle. The Midianite kings had evidently murdered them.
It was a great disgrace to die at the hand of a woman or a youth in the ancient Near East. This implied that the person killed could not overcome his slayer. Gideon's intent was to punish the kings with humiliation as well as death for their treatment of his brothers (v. 20). However, Gideon's young son was not ready for this adult work so Gideon killed them himself (v. 21). The crescent-shaped ornaments that Gideon took from the kings' camels (v. 21) were presumably gold and silver. The Arabians commonly wore these around their necks and used them to decorate their camels. These particular ornaments would have been very valuable since they belonged to kings.
"Such crescents are mentioned in the Bible only in this chapter and Isaiah 3:18, but crescent-moon-shaped ornaments have been found at many excavated sites in Palestine. They are widely used by Arab peoples up to the present day."180
With the execution of Zebah and Zalmunna and the destruction of their army, Midian's domination of Israel ended. Though the seven years of this oppression were not as long as some of Israel's other periods of discipline, this appears to have been an unusually oppressive subjugation.
