Judgeschapter 7
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Gideon Chooses 300 Soldiers — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
A.Thirty-two thousand cut down to three hundredvv. 1-8
1 Early in the morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained. 4 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many people. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go. But if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So Gideon brought the people down to the water, and the LORD said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped the water with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men; all the others knelt to drink. 7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred men, who took charge of the provisions and rams’ horns of the others. And the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
B.A barley loaf tumbling through an enemy's dreamvv. 9-15
9 That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to do so, then go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp. 12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13 And as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.” 14 His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.” 15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
C.Trumpets, pitchers, torches, and a rout in the darkvv. 16-25
16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch. 17 “Watch me and do as I do,” Gideon said. “When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our horns, then you are also to blow your horns from all around the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’” 19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21 Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army fled, crying out as they ran. 22 And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath. 23 Then the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah. 25 They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
Chapter summary
Jehovah's problem with Gideon's army is that it is too large: 'lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.' Twenty-two thousand fearful go home; of the rest, the water test at the spring of Harod leaves three hundred who lapped like a dog.
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Chapter summary
Jehovah's problem with Gideon's army is that it is too large: 'lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.' Twenty-two thousand fearful go home; of the rest, the water test at the spring of Harod leaves three hundred who lapped like a dog.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
Jehovah's problem with Gideon's army is that it is too large: 'lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.' Twenty-two thousand fearful go home; of the rest, the water test at the spring of Harod leaves three hundred who lapped like a dog. Gideon creeps down to the camp and overhears a Midianite recount his dream of a cake of barley bread tumbling into the tent, and worships. Then the night attack: trumpets in every hand, torches inside empty pitchers, the cry 'The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon,' and a host turning its swords on itself in flight. Ephraim takes the waters and the princes Oreb and Zeeb.
Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.
Context
History · Samuel — Judges overview
- A. 1–8 Thirty-two thousand cut down to three hundred
- B. 9–15 A barley loaf tumbling through an enemy's dream
- C. 16–25 Trumpets, pitchers, torches, and a rout in the dark
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
Judges 64 verses
- Judges 6:5For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
- Judges 6:32So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baal’s altar.
- Judges 6:33Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
- Judges 6:35Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him.
- Read Judges 6 →
Judges 33 verses
- Judges 3:27On arriving in Seirah, he blew the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hills, and he became their leader.
- Judges 3:28“Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.
- Judges 3:31After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.
- Read Judges 3 →
Joshua 62 verses
- Joshua 6:4Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark. Then on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns.
- Joshua 6:16After the seventh time around, the priests blew the horns, and Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!
- Read Joshua 6 →
1 Samuel 142 verses
- 1 Samuel 14:6Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
- 1 Samuel 14:21And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps of the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
- Read 1 Samuel 14 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
Judges 42 verses
- Judges 4:8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
- Judges 4:21But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
- Read Judges 4 →
Judges 82 verses
- Judges 8:3God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.
- Judges 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.
- Read Judges 8 →
2 Chronicles 202 verses
- 2 Chronicles 20:15And he said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God.
- 2 Chronicles 20:23The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction. And when they had made an end to the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
- Read 2 Chronicles 20 →
Exodus 142 verses
- Exodus 14:13But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
- Exodus 14:24At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.
- Read Exodus 14 →
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.