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Judges 7:8

in Judges 7

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man unto his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

KJV

So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

This verse in Judges 7

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

With the three hundred men who lapped

on Judges 7:7-8

Thirty-two thousand is implied when twenty-two thousand leave and ten thousand remain, so three hundred is under one man in a hundred. Verse 8 ends with "the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley", where verse 1 put it, so only the army has moved.

This site's exposition

who took charge of the provisions

Albert Barnes explains that the three hundred took the horns from the men sent home, so each had a horn and a jar. Matthew Henry reads what follows as God supplying recruits for Gideon's faith in place of recruits for his army. The army shrinks and the equipment stays.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

So the people took victuals in their hands and their trumpets,.... That is, the three hundred took victuals of those that departed, as much as was necessary for them, and also their trumpets, being directed thereunto by Gideon, no doubt; perhaps they took all the trumpets they had; however, as many as would furnish every man with one.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Gideon's army being diminished as we have found it was, he must either fight by faith or not at all; God therefore here provides recruits for his faith, instead of recruits for his forces. He furnishes him with a good foundation to build his faith upon.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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. HE IS ENCOURAGED BY THE DREAM AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BARLEY CAKE.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

So the people took victuals - The three hundred men that he reserved took the victuals necessary for the day’s expenditure, while the others were dismissed to their tents and their houses as they thought proper.
The sense is, “And they (the three hundred) took the victuals and trumpets of the people (all the people of Jdg 7:7) into their hands.” so that each of the three hundred should have a trumpet and a pitcher.

The words behind it

24 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּקְח֣וּand they took

    vaiyikchuH3947 →966 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • צֵדָה֩provision[s]

    tzedahH6720 →

  • הָעָ֨םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • בְּיָדָ֜םin hand their

    beyadamH3027 →1618 times

  • וְאֵ֣תand <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • שׁוֹפְרֹֽתֵיהֶ֗םtrumpets their

    shofroteihemH7782 →72 times

  • וְאֵ֨תand <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אִ֤ישׁ<the> man of

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • שִׁלַּח֙he sent away

    shilachH7971 →845 times

  • אִ֣ישׁeach

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • לְאֹֽהָלָ֔יוto tents his

    leohalavH168 →345 times

  • וּבִשְׁלֹשׁ־and on three

    uvishlosh-H7969 →432 times

  • מֵא֥וֹתhundred<s>

    meotH3967 →581 times

  • הָאִ֖ישׁthe man

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • הֶֽחֱזִ֑יקhe kept hold

    hechezikH2388 →291 times

  • וּמַחֲנֵ֣הand [the] camp of

    umachanehH4264 →215 times

  • מִדְיָ֔ןMidian

    midyanH4080 →59 times

  • הָ֥יָהit was

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • ל֖וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • מִתַּ֥חַתfrom under

    mitachatH8478 →505 times

  • בָּעֵֽמֶק׃ פin the valley

    baemekH6010 →69 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 15:52

    in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 24:31

      And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17

      For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…

    • John 5:28

      Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice

    • John 5:25

      Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

    • Isaiah 27:13

      And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on…

  • Through

    Leviticus 25:9

    Then you are to sound the horn far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 23:24

      “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly announced by trumpet blasts.

  • Through

    Joshua 6:4

    Have 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.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 20:17

      You need not fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out…

    • Revelation 16:1

      Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out on the earth the seven bowls of God’s wrath.”

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Gideon Chooses 300 Soldiers — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Gideon Chooses 300 Soldiers — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.