Judges 8

Judges 8:1-3

In this chapter Gideon, (1.) Passforth the Ephraimites, ver. 1, 2, Chastifords the men of Succoth and Penuel, ver. 5-17. (4.) Sloys the two kings of Midian, ver. 18-21. (5.) He declines the government of Israel, ver. 22, 23. (6.) Says up an ephod in his own city, which proves a great force, ver. 24-27. (7.) Keeps the country quiet forty years, ver. 28-32. (8.) And dies in honour, ver. 32. (9.) Bish-be and his God are soon forget, ver. 33-35. Nish. When thing is this the then half done unto us. Nish. Synonym. Pretences. Phil. v. 3. a Chron. vs. 17. Phil. cit. 1. & cit. 1. 1. AND the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why halt thou served us thus, that thou calledest 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? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 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 was abated toward him, when he had said that. Inftend of congratulating Gideon, as might be expected, on his courage and conduct, the Ephraimites, envious of his success, seek to quarrel with him. 1. They pretend it was an high affront that they were not called to the battle against Midian; as if their courage was suspected, or as though Gideon meant to exalt his own tribe, Manasseh, by carrying away alone the honour of the victory. Note, (1.) Only from pride cometh contention. (2.) In the eye of the envious man every exaltation of his neighbour is construed an injury done himself. (3.) When the danger is past every coward vaunts his valour. 2. Gideon, by an answer suited to their present temper, seeks to sooth their exasperated spirits. He doth not reproach them with the unreasonableness of their change, or return chiding with chiding, but magnifies their performance, as if they had done more in the pursuit, in their gleanings, than he in the battle, the vintage of Abiezer; and desires to give them particularly the honour of having slain the generals, and much exceeded him and his little company in their exploit. Note, (1.) True humility will always lead a man to think and speak lowly of his own doings, and to put the honour from himself upon his neighbour. (2.) The only way to pacify wrath is by yielding. (3.) All a man’s gifts, graces, and attainments appear with double luffes, when above all he is chastised with humility. 3. The effect is answerable to his wishes. The anger of the Ephraimites abated. Note, (1.) We must let a man cool before we can hope to convince him of his error. (2.) We must not count it strange, if those who are most obliged to us, take occasion from our very services to find fault with us. 4. ¶ And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, ‘faint, yet pursuing them. 5. And he said unto the men of Succoth, ‘Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me, for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. 6. ¶ And the princes of Succoth said, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? 7. And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna unto mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with briars. 8. And he went up thence to Penuel, 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. 10. ¶ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hoffs with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hoffs of the children of the ealt: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. 11. ¶ And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehab, and smote the hoft: for the hoft was secure. 12. And when Zebah and Zalmunna sled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discontented all the hoft. 13. ¶ And Gideon the son of Joath returned from battle before the sun was up, 14. And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him, and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even thresfcore and seventeen men. 15. And he came unto the men 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, and thorns of the wilderness, and briars, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17. And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

Judges 8:4-17

Though the battle is won, and a vast slaughter already made of one hundred and twenty thousand men of war, yet the sword of Gideon cannot rest whilst Zeba and Zalmunna, with fifteen thousand men, are still alive in Karkor. We have therefore, 1. His hot pursuit of them. With his three hundred men, not one of whom were missing, he passes Jordan; and since God had so eminently broken him, seeks no other affluence: though faint with watching, want of food, and fatigue, he slacks not his pace, nor is discouraged with the refusal of refreshment he met at Succoth or Penuel, but continues his march, and having taken a compass out of the Strait road, he surprised the forttive Midianites, who thought themselves secure, and must beyond the possibility of being overtaken. As before, they seek their safety in flight, and whilst most of them are slain, their two kings remain prisoners with the conquerors. Note, (1.) Though

in our spiritual warfare our flesh and heart often form ready to fall, we must be still looking up for strength, and purifax. (2.) Those from whom we might expect the most cordial affliction, often, like the men of Succoth and Penuel, seek to weaken our hands and discourage our hearts. (3.) Patient perseverance will infallibly be crowned with success.

2. His heavy chafflement of his unnatural countrymen, according to his threatening, when they refused to afflict him with provisions in the pursuit; his request was small, he asked only a few loaves of bread, his necessities urgent, and his defects at the hand of every Israelite such as entitled him to their best entrainment; but they, whether afraid of the resentment of the Midianites, or led from the smallness of Gideon’s forces, to treat his attempt at raft and desperate not only shut up their bowels of compulsion from him, as a brother, but ridiculed his own purifax, as they conceived it, calling contempt on his faith in God. Juffly incensed at such treatment, where not himself was more injured than God dishonoured; he had threatened to will them, and though he could not then interrupt his march to chaffle their insistence, now that he is returned he will do it more deliberately and feverily. Accordingly, having got intelligence of the chief men, by whose indignation he had been so used, he felons their cities and perfons; after upholding them with their husbands, and shewing them the captive kings in chains, as he had threatened he foursed those of Succoth with thorns and brims, that by this correction they might know their folly and their sin, whilst the men of Penuel are put to the board, and their fearless chancellors. Note, (1.) They who sin will smart for it, either now under the red of correction, or eternally under the wrath of God. (2.) It is no new thing to have the world ridicule the purifans of God’s people; but they who counted their lives madness, will shortly see the folly was in themselves. (3.) In the feverish chafflements God means not our destruction, but correction: happy they who acknowledge God’s hand, and correspond with the designs of his grace.

3. ¶ Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye flew at Tabor? And they answered, ‘As thou art, so were they, each one + resembled the children of a king. 19. And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not stay you. 20. And he said unto Jethur his first-born, Uly, and day them: but the youth drew not his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. 21. Then Zeba and Zalmunna said, Rise thou and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon’s arose, and flew Zeba and Zalmunna, and took away the + ornaments that were on their camel’s necks.

Judges 8:18-21

After judgment passed on his false brethren, he proceeds to the condemnation of his avowed enemies the princes of Midian.

1. He tries and convicts them on their own confession; little did they think, in their inroads and ravages, that ever inquisition would be made for the blood that was fixed; but God often thoroughly brings the murderer to justice. Gideon, as the avenger of his brethren’s blood, who had been slain by the princes, charges them with the fact; they own it, and this confession their death, for though he would otherwise have spared them as captives, justice forbids they should live, as murderers. Note, The day is coming when every secret thing will be brought to light, and such conviction falls on the offenders, that they shall no longer be able to conceal their guilt.

2. The feastner being passed, execution is ordered, and Gideon bids his eldest son, as the avenger of blood, draw his sword, and slay these kings; but the youth is afraid, as amused to such bloody work. Zeba and Zalmunna fearing so timid an executioner would prolong their sufferings, beg Gideon himself, if it must be so, to dispatch them instantly. Which done, he spoils their camels of their ornaments, either chains of gold about their neck, or round tires like the moon, see fig. iii. 18. worn in honour of the goddess Affarte. Note, (1.) Courage doth not always run in a family. (2.) We must ever suit the burden to the back. (3.) They who fight God’s battles shall be enriched thereby, and reap the fruits of their victories in glory.

3. ¶ Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy sons son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. 23. And Gideon said unto them, ‘I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: * the LORD shall rule over you. 24. And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his prey: (for they had golden ear-rings, because they were throuseites.) 25. Vol. I.

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein, every man the ear-rings of his prey. 26. And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested, was a thousand and seven hundred Beeks of gold, besides ornaments and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels necks. 27. And ‘Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. 28. ¶ Thus was Midian Sebecued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more: and the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

Sebecued only. He will see Rom. 2. 9. About 23 24. reckoning from Debreth’s death.

Judges 8:22-28

Though he met with so ill a reception from the men of Penuel and Succoth, he met with a more honourable one from the rest of Israel.

1. They offer him the government, and to make it hereditary in his family. So affected were they with the greatness of their deliverance, that they thought no return belonged to the defects of their captain. Note, They who have seen the Lord Jefus appearing for their falvarion, cannot but with hearty choice for unto him, Come and reign over us.

2. Gideon modestly and proudly declines the proposal: ’the he would serve them as a judge, he will not rule over them as a king; this would be to change the established government, which was a inaccuracy, and therefore neither his son, any more than himself, may assume such authority. Note, The ambition of exalting a family is a great snare; but a true patron, who means not himself, but the public, will decline rather than seek those honours, satisfied with the consciousness of his own integrity, and defining not to rule but to serve his country.

3. Though he declined their offer, he hath a request to make to them. He asked the golden ear-rings of their spoils, to which he added what fell to his own share, of jewels and fine garments, and with these he made an ephod, either designed for a memorial of his victory to be produced in Ephraim, or, conceiving that as God had ordered him to build an altar, and accepted his sacrifice, he might continue to minister before him, and ask advice and direction from God, though not of the order of Aaron; and perhaps, as Shaloh lay in the tribe of Ephraim, who had disobliged him, he the rather fell on this method to prevent his going up to the altar of the Lord there. But however honestly it was meant, it proved a dangerous snare, leading Gideon, and his own house, into a breach of God’s commands, and proving a temptation to Israel, always too prone to idolatry. Note, (1.) In God’s worship we must carefully adhere to God’s word, avoiding all superstition. (2.) What may be indifferent or innocent to one man, may, to a weaker brother, be a dangerous snare. (3.) From small beginnings arose all the present horrid idolatry of the church of Rome.

4. After Gideon’s victory the land had again rest for forty years, during which time he judged them, and kept them, so is to be hoped, in the ways and service of God. Note, It is a great mercy to any people, to have the lives of faithful ministers long spared among them.

5. ¶ And Jerubhaal the son of Joath went and dwelt in his own house. 30. And Gideon had three more and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. 31. And his concubine that war in Shechemi, the also bare turn a son, whose name he called Ahmadech. 32. ¶ And ‘Gideon the son of Joath died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joath his father, in Ophrah of the chivalries. 33. And it came to pass ‘as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-brith their god. 34. And ’the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side: 35. ‘Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubhaal, namely Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.

Heh. v. 14. Heh. Godeon not of his thigh. Chap. ii. 5. Gen. exil. 1. 5. Job v. Jud. exil. 1. 5. Kings Chap. ii. 10. 17. Ze- Chap. ii. 10. 17. Zech. ii. 14.

Judges 8:29-35

We have here.

1. The history of the remainder of Gideon’s life and death. He lived in peace in his own city, had many wives, as was too common in those days, and by them had a numerous family, no less than seventy sons, besides one by a concubine, which proved the ruin of his father’s house. At last did age crept silently upon him; and death put a period to his life of idolatry, and carried him to receive that crown in heaven; which on earth he had proudly refused.

2. Israel’s backfilling. No sooner is Gideon dead than their idolatrous affections appear, and they go a whoring after new gods; and ungrateful to man, as apostates from the Lord, the

X x x family

The family of their late deliverer is utterly neglected. Note, (1). We need not wonder they are ungrateful to us, who show themselves defturize of all gratitude to God. (2). They who are kept from evil, not by their own choice, but by the restraint of others, will, like the slackened bow, start aside the moment the firing is loofed.