Judges 8:12
in Judges 8When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.
KJV
And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.
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This verse in Judges 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor
on Judges 8:10-12
Karkor lies far east of Jezreel, so three hundred exhausted men have gone deep into the desert after a broken army. About fifteen thousand remain. The Hebrew of verse 11 says the camp was secure, reckoning itself past pursuit, and the same idea returns of Laish at 18:7 and 18:27.
This site's exposition
captured these two kings of Midian
John Gill supposes the second attack went like the first, with a sudden alarm that scattered the host. Matthew Henry draws the lesson that a man who flees from the judgment of God only runs into it. The kings Succoth doubted are now in Gideon's hand.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled,.... Their host being smitten and thrown into confusion by the sudden approach of Gideon's army; and who probably attacked them in somewhat like manner as before, blowing their trumpets, and calling out the sword of the Lord and of Gideon; which were such terrifying sounds to them, that they fled at once: he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host; or terrified them, so that they fled some one way and some another, and the kings being left alone were easily taken.
Those that think to run from the sword of the Lord and of Gideon do but run upon it. If he flee from the iron weapon, yet the bow of steel shall strike him through; for evil pursueth sinners. Here is Gideon, as a righteous judge, chastising the insolence of the disaffected Israelites, the men of Succoth and the men of Penuel, both in the tribe of Gad, on the other side Jordan.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them--A third conflict took place. His arrival at their last quarters, which was by an unwonted path, took the fugitives by surprise, and the conquest of the Midianite horde was there completed.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
By way of the tent dwellers. By way of the lands of Kedar and Arabia, whose inhabitants were wilderness tent dwellers. Since they were occupied exclusively as shepherds, they could not dwell in houses.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
With the sun high. Before sunset, with the sun still visible high above the horizon.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּנ֗וּסוּ | vaiyanusu | and they fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
| זֶ֚בַח | zevach | Zebah | H2078 → | 12 times |
| וְצַלְמֻנָּ֔ע | vetzalmuna' | and Zalmunna | H6759 → | 12 times |
| וַיִּרְדֹּ֖ף | vaiyirdof | and he pursued | H7291 → | 143 times |
| אַחֲרֵיהֶ֑ם | ʾachareihem | after them | H310 → | 715 times |
| וַיִּלְכֹּ֞ד | vaiyilkod | and he captured | H3920 → | 121 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁנֵ֣י׀ | shenei | [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| מַלְכֵ֣י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מִדְיָ֗ן | midyan | Midian | H4080 → | 59 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זֶ֙בַח֙ | zevach | Zebah | H2078 → | 12 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צַלְמֻנָּ֔ע | tzalmuna' | Zalmunna | H6759 → | 12 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה | hamachaneh | the army | H4264 → | 215 times |
| הֶחֱרִֽיד׃ | hecherid | he routed | H2729 → |
וַיָּנ֗וּסוּand they fled
vaiyanusuH5127 →159 times
זֶ֚בַחZebah
zevachH2078 →12 times
וְצַלְמֻנָּ֔עand Zalmunna
vetzalmuna'H6759 →12 times
וַיִּרְדֹּ֖ףand he pursued
vaiyirdofH7291 →143 times
אַחֲרֵיהֶ֑םafter them
ʾachareihemH310 →715 times
וַיִּלְכֹּ֞דand he captured
vaiyilkodH3920 →121 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁנֵ֣י׀[the] two
sheneiH8147 →768 times
מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
מִדְיָ֗ןMidian
midyanH4080 →59 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זֶ֙בַח֙Zebah
zevachH2078 →12 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
צַלְמֻנָּ֔עZalmunna
tzalmuna'H6759 →12 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖הthe army
hamachanehH4264 →215 times
הֶחֱרִֽיד׃he routed
hecheridH2729 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 stopsEach 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
Job 34:19who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:17
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.
- James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Acts 10:34
Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
- Romans 2:11
For God does not show favoritism.
- Colossians 3:25
Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
- Deuteronomy 10:17
Through
Psalms 83:11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
it leads to
- Judges 7:25
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…
- Judges 8:12–21
When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army.
- Judges 7:25
Where this verse is studied
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.