1And Jerub-Baal (he is Gideon) will rise early and all the people that is with him, and they will encamp by the fountain of Harod: and the camp of Midian was to him from the north from the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2And Jehovah will say to Gideon, The people many which are with thee for me to give Midian into their hand, lest Israel shall glory before me, saying, My hand saved me. 3And now, call now in the ears of the people, saying, Who being afraid and trembling shall turn back and turn about from mount Gilead. And there will turn back from the people twenty and two thousand; and ten thousand were left 4And Jehovah will say to Gideon, Yet the people many; bring them down to the waters, and I will purify them for thee there; and it shall be of whom saying to thee, This shall go with thee, he shall go with thee; and all which saying to thee, This shall not go with thee, he shall not go. 5And he will bring down the people to the waters: and Jehovah will say to Gideon, Every one which shall lap with his tongue from the waters as the dog will lap, thou shalt put him alone; and all which shall bend upon his knees to drink 6And the number of those lapping with their hand to their mouth, will be three hundred men: and all the remainder of the people bowed upon their knees to drink water. 7And Jehovah will say to Gideon, By the three hundred men lapping, I will save you, and give Midian into thy hand: and all the people shall go, a man to his place. 8And the people will take food in their hand and their trumpets: and he sent all the men of Israel a man to his tent, and by the three hundred men he was strengthened: and the camp of Midian was to him beneath in the valley. 9And it will be in that night, and Jehovah will say to him, Arise, go down to the camp, for I gave him into thy hand. 10And if thou shalt fear to go down go down thou and Phurah thy youth to the camp: 11And thou heardest what they shall speak: and afterward thy hands shall be strengthened, and go down to the camp. And he will go down, he and Phurah his boy to the extremity of the brave which in the camp. 12And Midain and Amalek, and all the sons of the east, encamping in the valley, as the locust for multiude; and to their camels no number, as the sand which is upon the lip of the sea for multitude. 13And Gideon will come, and behold, a man recounting a dream to his neighbor; and he will say, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a round cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian; and it will come even to the tent, and it will strike it, and it will fall and will turn it over, so that the tent fell. 14And his neighbor will answer and say, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, a man of Israel: God gave into his hand Midian, and all the camp. 15And it will be when Gideon heard the recounting of the dream and its breaking, and he will worship, and turn back to the camp of Israel, and he will say, Arise, ye, for Jehovah gave into your hand the camp of Midian. 16And he will divide the three hundred men into three beginnings, and he will give trumpets into the hand of them all, and empty buckets, and torches in the midst of the buckets. 17And he will say to them, Ye shall look upon me, and so shall ye do: and behold me coming to the extremity of the camp, and it was as I shall do, so ye shall do. 18And I struck upon the trumpet, I and all that are with me, and ye struck upon the trumpets, also ye round about all the camp, and say, For Jehovah and for Gideon. 19And Gideon will go and the hundred men that are with him, to the extremity of the, camp, the beginning of the middle watch; only now rising up they raised up those watching: and they will strike upon the trumpets, and they brake the buckets that are in their hand. 20And the three heads will strike upon the trumpets, and will break the buckets, and they will hold fast in their left hand upon the torches, and in their right hand the trumpets to strike: and they will call the sword for Jehovah and for Gideon. 21And they will stand a man for himself round about the camp; and all the camp will run and cry out and flee. 22And the three hundred will clang the trumpets, and Jehovah will set the sword of a man against his neighbor and in all the camp: and the camp fled even to the House of Acacia of Zererath, even to the lip of Abel-Meholah, to Tabbath. 23And a man of Israel will be called from Naphtali, and from Asher, and from Manasseh, and they will pursue after Midian. 24And Gideon sent messengers into all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down to meet Midian, and take before them the waters even to the House of Passage, and Jordan. And every man of Ephraim will be called together, and they will take the waters even to the House of Passage and Jordan. 25And they will take the two chiefs of Midian. Oreb and Zeeb; and they will kill Oreb upon the rock of Oreb, ' and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, and they pursued against Midian, and the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they brought to Gideon beyond Jordan.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 GIDEON'S ARMY. (
Judg 7:1-
Judg 7:8)
Jerubbaal--This had now become Gideon's honorable surname, "the enemy of Baal."
well--rather "spring of Harod," that is, "fear, trembling"; probably the same as the fountain in Jezreel (
1Sam 29:1). It was situated not far from Gilboa, on the confines of Manasseh, and the name "Harod" was bestowed on it with evident reference to the panic which seized the majority of Gideon's troops. The host of the Midianites were on the northern side of the valley, seemingly deeper down in the descent towards the Jordan, near a little eminence.
2 the Lord said unto Gideon, The people . . . are too many--Although the Israelitish army mustered only thirty-two thousand (or one-sixth of the Midianitish host), the number was too great, for it was the Lord's purpose to teach Israel a memorable lesson of dependence on Him.
3 Now therefore . . ., proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful . . . let him return--This proclamation was in terms of an established law (
Deut 20:8).
4 too many--Two reductions were ordered, the last by the application of a test which was made known to Gideon alone.
5 bring them down unto the water--When the wandering people in Asia, on a journey or in haste, come to water, they do not stoop down with deliberation on their knees, but only bend forward as much as is necessary to bring their hand in contact with the stream, and throw it up with rapidity, and at the same time such address, that they do not drop a particle. The Israelites, it seems, were acquainted with the practice; and those who adopted it on this occasion were selected as fit for a work that required expedition. The rest were dismissed according to the divine direction.
7 the Lord said, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you--It is scarcely possible to conceive a more severe trial than the command to attack the overwhelming forces of the enemy with such a handful of followers. But Gideon's faith in the divine assurance of victory was steadfast, and it is for this he is so highly commended (
Heb 11:32).
8 the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley--Attention to the relative position of the parties is of the greatest importance to an understanding of what follows.
9 HE IS ENCOURAGED BY THE DREAM AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BARLEY CAKE. (
Judg 7:9-
Judg 7:15)
Arise, get thee down unto the host . . . But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant--In ancient times it was reckoned no degradation for persons of the highest rank and character to act as spies on an enemy's camp; and so Gideon did on this occasion. But the secret errand was directed by God, who intended that he should hear something which might animate his own valor and that of his troops.
11 the outside of the armed men that were in the host--"Armed," means embodied under the five officers established by the ordinary laws and usages of encampments. The camp seems to have been unprotected by any rampart, since Gideon had no difficulty in reaching and overhearing a conversation, so important to him.
12 the Midianites and the Amalekites . . . lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number--a most graphic description of an Arab encampment. They lay wrapt in sleep, or resting from their day's plunder, while their innumerable camels were stretched round about them.
13 I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian--This was a characteristic and very expressive dream for an Arab in the circumstances. The rolling down the hill, striking against the tents, and overturning them, naturally enough connected it in his mind with the position and meditated attack of the Israelitish leader. The circumstance of the cake, too, was very significant. Barley was usually the food of the poor, and of beasts; but most probably, from the widespread destruction of the crops by the invaders, multitudes must have been reduced to poor and scanty fare.
15 when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation . . . he worshipped--The incident originated in the secret overruling providence of God, and Gideon, from his expression of pious gratitude, regarded it as such. On his mind, as well as that of his followers, it produced the intended effect--that of imparting new animation and impulse to their patriotism.
16 HIS STRATAGEM AGAINST MIDIAN. (
Judg 7:16-
Judg 7:24)
he divided the three hundred men into three companies--The object of dividing his forces was, that they might seem to be surrounding the enemy. The pitchers were empty to conceal the torches, and made of earthenware, so as to be easily broken; and the sudden blaze of the held-up lights--the loud echo of the trumpets, and the shouts of Israel, always terrifying (
Num 23:21), and now more terrible than ever by the use of such striking words, broke through the stillness of the midnight air. The sleepers started from their rest; not a blow was dealt by the Israelites; but the enemy ran tumultuously, uttering the wild, discordant cries peculiar to the Arab race. They fought indiscriminately, not knowing friend from foe. The panic being universal, they soon precipitately fled, directing their flight down to the Jordan, by the foot of the mountains of Ephraim, to places known as the "house of the acacia" [Beth-shittah], and "the meadow of the dance" [Abel-meholah].
23 the men of Israel gathered themselves together--These were evidently the parties dismissed, who having lingered at a little distance from the scene of contest, now eagerly joined in the pursuit southwestward through the valley.
24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim--The Ephraimites lay on the south and could render seasonable aid.
Come . . . take before them the waters unto Beth-barah--(See on
Judg 3:28). These were the northern fords of the Jordan, to the east-northeast of wady Maleh.
the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together . . . unto Beth-barah--A new conflict ensued, in which two secondary chiefs were seized and slain on the spots where they were respectively taken. The spots were named after these chiefs, Oreb, "the Raven," and Zeeb, "the Wolf"--appropriate designations of Arab leaders.