Judges 6:1-10 -- We have here a general picture of Arab raiders. They lived in tents, often bringing the whole family. It appears the Midianites would establish a base camp, then send out raiding parties in all directions. Most likely, they were simply collecting crops after they were harvested and processed for storage. For the first time we know of, camels were used as combat animals. Their use enabled far longer ranging on non-stop trips. The Ammonites arrogantly moved into the land and occupied open areas as if vacant. In a certain sense, it was becoming true, for during these raids a lot of Israelites lived in caves. Most people took care to travel off the beaten path, often crossing terrain where there were no paths.
6:11-24 -- Gideon was nobility. He would have been working with servants, which are seldom mentioned in the biblical text. Under better circumstances, his personal presence might not have been so critical to the task. Threshing wheat in a low place like this is very inefficient. Threshing included the idea of winnowing, but without much wind in this case. The hollow of a wine press would not be large, so not much grain could be threshed at one time. Gideon felt the greeting from the angel was mocking (vv. 12-13). That he wanted a sign (v. 20) is not so much to diminish his character, but is more a measure of his discouragement and desperation. He then realized the visitor was God's direct representative, and that it might herald his death, but God reassured him (v. 23).
6:25-32 -- There was as much politics as religion in what followed. Gideon was required to do something that would be a strong statement about where his loyalty lay. His act deprived the community of their center of pagan worship, which had been sponsored by Gideon's family. He was to take the young bull (previously marked for pagan sacrifice) and offer it to God, in such a way as to be obvious what it was about. He was also to destroy the altar to Baal, and the Asherah's "grove" -- the word meant anything from a single stump to a large collection. The point was that they were grown, lavishly nurtured, then they were chopped off high and carved into an image. Whatever it was, Gideon made total destruction of the community shrine. So politically sensitive was the act that he did it at night. The community wanted to punish him for this affront to their god. Apparently Gideon's family was with him on this, because the patriarch (his father Joash) defended him. If Baal is truly a god, let him punish Gideon himself. His answer implied there might be a fight, and no one wanted to go that far. They already had trouble enough with Midian.
6:33-40 -- At the usual season of harvest, the Midianite hordes moved into the Valley of Jezreel, grazing their camels and harvesting Israel's grain, raiding their other food supplies, etc. Gideon rose up and announced his intention to resist this time -- "blowing the trumpet" (shofar, a ram's horn hollowed out) should not necessarily be taken literally, but is an expression commonly used in that time. His clan rallied to him and made preparations. During these preparations, Gideon put out his fleece.
7:1-8 -- The Well of Harod is not fully identified today, but probably at the foot of Mount Gilboa on the south side of River Jezreel, or just opposite across the river. Either way, the assembled Isrealite troops would be just out of sight around a long bend in the river, with a low crest between them. At the nearest, the Midian army was encamped about 4 miles away. The armed troops of Midian had taken a solid commanding position with good water and grass, while the raiders spread over the land.
Whittling the attacking troops down to a level that would give God the proper credit was tricky. The first bunch to leave did so voluntarily -- they simply weren't ready to fight. That would make sense; don't use conscripts, but volunteers. Still too many, the final test was purely tactical in nature: those who went face down to drink would not be aware of their surroundings. The few who thought to drink from their hands were being cautious, and could keep their eyes on surroundings. The result was a mere handful of folks by comparison to the original muster.
7:9-15 -- The Lord confirms yet again His support for Gideon, by having him and one other person sneak up and spy on the Midianite camp. They overheard the best evidence that Midian was already worried. This spying mission would have taken place just after nightfall.
7:16-22 -- Apparently, the order to attack came that same night, given the method of time keeping. The night was roughly 12 hours, divided into three 4-hour watches. The spying mission could have been completed before the first was up. The battle orders would have taken a few minutes to implement, using clay pots to (with handles, "pitchers") to mask the glow of torches. There was no real need of weapons. This was an example of psychological warfare, because no one actually attacked. In the confusion, the Midianites and their allies attacked each other. They fled to some unidentified location, but it was obviously down in the Jordan Valley. While helter-skelter at first, they would have attempted to stay together in an orderly withdrawal, marching in mass, but probably without the full complement of camels, many of which would have been sent out with the raiding parties.
7:23-25 -- The uproar served as a signal to surrounding communities that now was the time to attack. As the sun rose, the pursuit was joined. The other clans and tribes of Israel were asked to converge on the Jordan Valley from both sides to prevent escape. Messengers would have been dispatched, individual runners moving far faster than marching armies. They would have had plenty of time to arrive and pass the word, it appears, because the slaughter was considered successful.
8:1-3 -- The fuss that followed was about captured booty. The Ephraimite leaders charged Gideon with excluding them from an opportunity to reclaim some of their lost wealth, under the custom that to the victor goes the spoils. The battle in the valley near Moreh would have presumably netted quite a lot of stuff. But battles are about glory, too. Gideon's answer indicated they really didn't get that much, and that they glory of capturing the kings (essentially generals) was a better prize, and indicated they captured the most powerful groups with their plunder, anyway. "We got a little stuff; you got lasting glory." This answer appeared to pacify the offended leaders.
8:4-17 -- The pursuit turned up the Jabbok River Valley (same route in reverse that Jacob took on his return from Damascus). When Gideon requested food support -- not even troops -- he was rudely dismissed. Since they were technically at war, all communications would have been from the top of the walls to the troops on the ground below. The towns would have remained closed, to at least appear they felt threated by the passing Midianites. These towns were somewhat in the service of the Midianites, having let them escape, and probably gave them safe passage into Canaan in the first place. Why else would this be the goal of the fleeing army, as their exit point? When the unidentified speakers on the walls answered arrogantly, Gideon promised to treat them as the collaborators they were.
The Midianites thought they were safe out in the desert. Gideon's pursuit was wholly unexpected. The attack was successful enough to permanently terrorize the Midianite nation. Upon his return back down the Jabbok Valley, he mocked the two cities' leaders and punished them as promised. This included leveling the refuge tower of which Penuel was so proud, along with executing their leaders. For Succoth, he first got intelligence on who the city's leaders were, then proceeded to humiliate them in public.
8:18-21 -- Gideon queried his captives about an execution they held back when they occupied the area near Mount Tabor. Gideon no doubt knew about this, but was preparing them for their death, that they would know why they were about to die. Their actions forced upon Gideon the requirement of blood vengance, for the victims were his literal brothers, of both the same father and mother. Their answer was an attempt at flattery, but to no avail. He attempted to humiliate them by having his young son execute them. Arrogant to the end, they insisted he do it himself. The final note is not praiseworthy, for it implies he took the crescent amulets that were on the camels' collars, regarded as protection from demons.
8:22-28 -- Gideon's refusal to become king is laudable, and their request was natural. "Stay on as our king." Instead, he asked that they give him one small part of their war trophies: the gold earrings worn by every free man among the desert tribes. It amounted to about 70 pounds (30 kg), and he made it into an ephod -- a word describing something that could theoretically be worn as part of priestly regalia, but no one is quite sure what it looked like. Whatever it was, it became a symbol for pagan worship.
8:29-35 -- While declining to become king, Gideon nonetheless took advantage of his fame and built quite a large household. He had 70 sons, legitimate heirs, and at least one from a Canaanite concubine. This sign of compromise became the source of his family's near demise. The name Baalberith means "Lord of the Covenant." While the Lord is indeed a God of covenants, this was not Him being worshipped, but a pagan corruption. It involved at least a temple building with all the pagan trappings of the day. It would have been the center of perhaps a federation of cities in the area, the very thing Joshua went about destroying.
With every judge, we get the distinct sense that Israel as a people sank deeper into superstition and pagan religion. The Law of Moses, along with a large corpus of unwritten teaching in how to deal with Jehovah, was gradually passing from memory.
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Ed Hurst
revised 21 March 2004
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