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CHAPTER VIII.

GIDEON'S VICTORY OVER SELF PRELIMINARY TO HIS COMPLETE CONQUESTS OF MIDIAN, AND CHASTISEMENT OF CHURLISH SCOFFERS.

(1) And the men of Ephraim said unto him [when they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to him on the east side of Jordan (vii. 25). Their pride and jealousy were excited, because he had undertaken and succeeded in such a great war, without their co-operation, as they considered their tribe the leading one (see ch. xii. 1). "The envy of Ephraim" was proverbial (Isa. xi. 13). Pride is the parent of envy. Jacob's preferring Ephraim before Manasseh was made a plea for pride; but true greatness is in humility (Gen. xlviii. 14, 17–19)] Why hast thou served us thus ["what is this thing thou hast done unto us"?], that thou calledst us not when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. (2) And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? [illustrating Prov. xv. 1, xvi. 32, xix. 11. The present victory over his own spirit exceeded his past victory over Midian, and prepared for the final triumph. As by pride cometh contention, so by humility and meekness cometh peace (Matt. v. 5). Contrast Jephthah (Judg. xii. 1-6), and the deadly end of strife to the originators of the quarrel (Prov. xvii. 14, xiii. 10)]. (Is) not [even] the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the [whole] vintage of Abiezer? [Ephraim's 'gleaning' means their victory over the retiring Midianites; that it was a crushing defeat, appears from Isa. x. 26. Gideon salves over their wounded pride by implying, they had effected more in the brief time since they joined him, than he had in the whole campaign. "The

vintage of Abiezer' means the Abiezrite Gideon's victory with his 300. He ascribes the victory not to himself, but to the whole clan of Abiezer. Ephraim had slain the two Midianite princes, which he had failed to do]. (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 [Heb. ruach, 'spirit' (Prov. xxxv. 28; Eccl. vii. 9] was abated toward him, when he had said that. (4) And Gideon came to Jordan [the history goes back to narrate Gideon's movements after the battle on the west of Jordan, and his crossing it eastward (vii. 25, end) in the meantime. After having sent messengers to beg Ephraim to intercept the main body of the fleeing Midianites before they could cross the river, he and his 300 men, though faint, pursued to the east side of Jordan Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian, and their 15,000 men who had succeeded in crossing, before he could overtake them], (and) passed over, he and the three hundred men that (were) with him, faint, yet pursuing (them) [contrast 1 Sam. xxx. 10]. (5) And he said unto the men of Succoth [evidently east of the Jordan, for Gideon came to it, after having crossed Jordan, going south and east; see Josh. xiii. 27. The course of the Jabbok (Zerka) is the only convenient route by which the caravans of commerce and the hordes of Midian could pass from the east and south to the west of Jordan; and is therefore termed (ver. 11), "the way of them that dwelt in tents." Now in the great plain, north of the Jabbok, one mile north of the stream and three miles from where it leaves the hills, there is a Tel named Der'ala, answering to the name by which Succoth was known in the time of the Talmud, 'Ter'alah.' Broken pottery abounds on it. To the east is a ford of the Jabbok named Mashra'a Canaan, i.e., "Canaan's Crossing." Gideon having crossed the Jordan by one of the fords near Bethshean, hurried down the Jordan valley as far as to Succoth, and halted there to refresh his wearied men. But the men of Succoth, as living on the great route between Canaan and the east, feared the vengeance of Midian, and therefore refused supplies to Gideon, preferring to be neutral till they should see the issue of Israel's struggle with Midian. Succoth was

on the direct route between the Jabbok and Shechem (now Nablus) by way of the Damia ford: so the order of places enumerated in the 60th Psalm is "Shechem, the valley of Succoth (on the route to Gilead), Gilead." Here Jacob found pasture abundant along the Jabbok stream for his flocks and herds, and therefore "built an house" at Succoth, "and made booths for his cattle" (Gen. xxxiii. 17, margin)], Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me [Gideon is more concerned for his men than for himself]; for they (be) faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian [Oreb and Zeeb were only military chief captains (, Saree, applied to Sisera (iv. 2), or 'princes:' Zebah and Zalmunna were the (, Malkee) 'kings.' After the men of Succoth had failed to join their brethren in the national struggle of independence, the least they could do was to help Gideon's fainting little band with bread: they had not the common humanity to do so (compare Deut. xxiii. 3, 4)]. (6) And the princes of Succoth said, (Are) the hands [Heb. 'the palm,' 'the hollow of the hand,' Kaph, the grasp] of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? [Compare Nabal's churlishness (1 Sam. xxv. 8-11). Contrast Barzillai's conduct and reward (2 Sam. xvii. 27-29, xix. 33-40). Fear of Midian's vengeance, pusillanimous regard for self alone, and contempt of the smallness of Gideon's force (300 pursuing 15,000), whereby they betrayed their unbelief towards God, actuated the men of Succoth. Their seemingly prudent policy proved to be most imprudent. The venture of faith is the true wisdom, and in the end furthers one's best interest. They added insolence to unkindness]. (7) And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD [JEHOVAH] hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear [Heb. 'thresh' (so Amos i. 3; compare 2 Sam. xii. 31; Isa. xli. 15)] your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with briers [they had identified themselves with the ungodly, who are symbolised by "briers and thorns," therefore with briers' and "thorns of the wilderness" (i.e., strong thorns, for the wilderness is their natural soil, Isa. v. 6), they must be chastised (2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7; Isa. xxvii. 4)]. (8) And he went up thence to Penuel [which

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was higher up towards the mountains than Succoth, which lay
more in the valley and on the north of the Jabbok. Penuel was
a frontier tower' or fortress, built in the earliest times to repel
invaders from the east who always came along the course of
the Jabbok. Jeroboam, among his first acts on becoming king,
"went out" and rebuilt it: otherwise hordes might have by
this route advanced to the Damia ford of the Jordan, and
swept up the Wady Faria, and attacked Shechem his capital
(1 Kings xii. 25). Four miles above "Canaan's Crossing,"
following the course of the stream, in a line with the valley
which run from east to west, from its lowest level rise two
conical hills, 250 feet high, called "Hills of Gold," from their
yellow sandstone, one on one side of the stream, and the other
on the other side. The ruins on the western hill are more
numerous. On the eastern hill, halfway up the side, is a plat-
form several hundred feet long, and supported by a strong wall.
This was probably the foundation of the fortress.
The great
unhewn stones mark the age long prior to Roman times.
this was the Penuel tower seems likely, as no other ruins occur
along this great Jabbok thoroughfare up to Kalat Zerka, 50
miles from the mouth of the river. The name given by Jacob
Peni-el, "the face of God," from his having seen God as man
there, answered to the physical conformation of the place, which
would always fix on it the name], and spake unto them likewise;
and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had
answered (him). (9) And he spake also unto the men of Penuel,
saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this
tower [on which you rely as sure to save you from the penalty
of your insolence]. (10) Now Zebah and Zalmunna (were) in
[the] Karkor [from a root to dig,' soft level ground: akin to
Kerak, "an even floor," within less than a day's march from
Succoth (ver. 13, 14), near Nobah and Jogbehah (ver. 11).
The Hebrew article implies it was a well known region: perhaps
the rich plain En-Nukrah in the Hauran], and their hosts with
them, about fifteen thousand (men), all that were left of all the
hosts of the children of the east [after their slaughter by Gideon,
and their second slaughter by Ephraim at the rock Oreb]:
for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew

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sword. (11) And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents [i.e., by their usual route in passing into and from Canaan] on the east of Nobah [formerly Kenath (Numb. xxxii. 42), now Nowakis] and Jogbehah [a city fortified by Gad (Numb. xxxii. 35), Jebeiha now, a ruin seven miles to the north-east of Es-Salt], and smote the host; for the host was secure [Gideon took a circuit past the most easterly frontier city of Gad, so as to fall on them from the east, a quarter whence they apprehended no danger, especially at night, and least of all from such an handful of men as 300, and those wearied with fighting and pursuing (1 Thess. v. 3)]. (12) And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited ['terrified'] all the host [taken by surprise, and therefore panic-struck, by the attack at night: ver. 13 proves it was a night attack. Had it been by day, the Midianites would have seen his small numbers. They never feared a night attack again by a foe which had been engaged with them on the previous night. (13) And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun (was up) [the English version wrongly puts in italics was up, as if these words were not in the Hebrew: the literal translation is, "from in connection with the going of the sun" (compare Gen. xix. 15, “when the morning arose"). The use of the same Hebrew, Heres, for the sun, in xiv. 18, sustains this meaning here, in opposition to the Septuagint, Peshito, and Arabic, which translate "from the ascent of Heres or Heheres, a place now unknown in front of Succoth. Gideon attacked Succoth at so early an hour as to take them by surprise]. (14) And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him; and he described unto [rather "wrote down for "] him the [names of the] princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, (even) threescore and seventeen men [enabling Gideon to know whom to punish, viz., the guilty rulers, and whom to spare, viz., the innocent people]. (15) And he came unto the men [i.e., the elders] 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? (16) And he took the elders of the city,

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