77Ephraim’s pride of preeminence staked its claim on Ge 48:20, Joshua and Deborah, and later reached its worst at the time of Jephthah, in ch. 12:1-6.
8: 2 And he said unto them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
8: 3 God hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their 78anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.
78Hb. spirit
8: 4 And Gideon came to the Jordan, 79and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing.
79Or, to pass over,
8: 5 And he said unto the men of Sukkoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.
8: 6 And the princes of Sukkoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thine army?
8: 7 And Gideon said, Therefore when Jehovah hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will 80tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
80Hb. thresh
8: 8 And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered.
8: 9 And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
8: 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred twenty thousand men that drew sword.
8: 11 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host; for the host was secure.
8: 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and 81discomfited all the host.
81Hb. terrified
8: 13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.
8: 14 And he caught a young man of the men of Sukkoth, and inquired of him: and he 82described for him the princes of Sukkoth, and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.
82Or, wrote down for him
8: 15 And he came unto the men of Sukkoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom ye did taunt me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?
8: 16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson.
8: 17 And he brake down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
8: 18 Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.
8: 19 And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as Jehovah liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
8: 20 And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Get up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
8: 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks.
8: 22 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also; for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian.
8: 23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you.
8: 24 And Gideon said unto them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the 83ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
83Or, nose-rings (both times, and elsewhere below)
8: 25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil.
8: 26 And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was 84a thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks.
84About 19.7 kg, (at least 1,000 cm3), of gold.
8: 27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
8: 28 So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest 85forty years in the days of Gideon.
85Likely coinciding with the 40 years of ch 5:31. While Israel’s land had peace, the rest of Canaan was filled with fighting, treachery, and great fear of the Hebrews. These are all reflected in the el‑Amarna letters to three 18th-dynasty pharaohs of Egypt, with quotations selected below: “Thus Milkilu [prince of Gezer], thy servant... Let the king [Akhenaton of Egypt], my lord, protect his land from the hand of the Habiru [or, Apiru].” [EA 271] “Thus Shuwardata [prince of the Hebron region], thy servant, servant of the king and the dirt under his two feet, the ground on which thou dost tread!... Let the king, my lord, learn that the chief of the Habiru has risen in arms against the lands which the god of the king, my lord, gave me; but I have smitten him... All my brethren have abandoned me, and it is I and ‘Abdu-Heba [prince of Jerusalem] who fight against the chief of the Habiru. And Zurata, prince of Accho, and Indaruta, prince of Achshaph, it was they who hastened with fifty chariots – for I had been robbed by the Habiru – to my help; but behold, they are fighting against me... let [Akhenaton] send Yanhamu, and let us make war in earnest, and let the lands of the king, my lord, be restored to their former limits!” [RA XIX] “Thus ‘Abdu-Heba, thy servant... Ilimilku [Elimelech] is causing the loss of all the king’s land... let the king, my lord, send out troops of archers, for the king has no lands left! The Habiru plunder all the lands of the king.” [EA 286] “Or, shall we do like Lab’ayu [prince of Shechem], who gave the land of Shechem to the Habiru? Milkilu has written to Tagu [prince of the north coastal plain] and the sons of <Lab’ayu>, saying, ‘Ye are members of my house. Yield all of their demands to the men of Keilah [Shuwardata?], and let us break our alliance <with> Jerusalem!’” [EA 289] “Behold, this is the deed of Milkilu and the deed of the sons of Lab’ayu who have given the land of the king to the Habiru.” [EA 287] “Behold the deed which Milkilu and Shuwardata did to the land of the king, my lord! They rushed troops of Gezer, troops of Gath and troops of Keilah; they took the land of Rubutu; the land of the king went over to the Habiru people. But now even a town of the land of Jerusalem, Bit-Lahmi [Beth-lehem] by name, a town belonging to the king, has gone over to the side of the people of Keilah. Let my king...send archers... But if there are no archers, the land of the king will pass over to the Habiru people.” [EA 290] See J.B. Pritchard, “Ancient Near Eastern Texts.” If the surprise victories of Barak and Gideon were in BC 1378, the corresponding Dynasty 18 Egyptian kings were, according to R.A. Parker’s dates: Amenhotep III BC 1397-1360 Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) 1370-1353 Semenkhare 1355-1352 Tutankhamon (“King Tut”) 1352-1343 Ay 1343-1339 The 18th dynasty kings and Israel had both opposed the 15th dynasty Hyksos at the time of the Exodus. These kings knew of the Exodus plagues and hence likely dreaded to tangle with Israel. See footnote on Ex 12:30.
8: 29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
8: 30 And Gideon had seventy sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives.
8: 31 And his concubine that was in 86Shechem, she also bare him a son, and he 87called his name Abimelech.
86The chief city of Ephraim (before Omri and Ahab).
87Hb. set
8: 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
8: 33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.
8: 34 And the children of Israel remembered not Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;
8: 35 neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.
