Chapter 8
Assistance from Ephraim - Part 2
8:1 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely.
When the men of Ephraim heard that there was a military campaign against the Midianites and they were not invited to participate, they took it as an insult. Not knowing that God only wanted a few men, they strongly rebuked Gideon.
8:2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against him subsided when he said this.
Gideon, rather than answer directly, uses a grape harvest analogy that compares their capture and killing of the two princes of Midian being better than what what Abiezer (Gideon’s clan) did. He notes that God gave them the greater honor, which calmed them down. This incident gives us some insight of the growing tensions between tribes. Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum wrote, “In the Book of Judges, the Ephraimites are presented as self-centered, factious, easily offended, and having an inflated estimation of their own importance within the nation itself.”[1] Which will get them in serious trouble later in chapter twelve.
Gideon Defeats the Kings of Midian
8:4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing.
Essentially picking up after Judges 7:23, the narrative returns to Gideon and his 300 men crossing over the Jordan in pursuit of the fleeing Midianites. At this time we are told they are exhausted and hungry (next verse).
8:5 So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”
They arrive at Succoth, a city in the Jordan Valley just north of the Jabbok River (now called the Zerqa River). Gideon asks for bread for his men and explains that they are pursuing the kings of Midian. But the officials of Succoth were too fearful to help, thinking what may happen to them if Gideon fails to capture and kill them (again no interest in helping a fellow Israelite). Gideon then pronounces that after God gives Zebah and Zalmunna into his hand, he will tear their flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
8:8 And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”
Proceeding east in the Jabbok Valley to the city of Penuel, Gideon requested bread from them and got the same response the men of Succoth gave them. So Gideon told them that when he returns he will topple their tower. Penuel is likely the same location where Jacob wrestled with God and proclaimed “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” (Genesis 32:30, ESV) The word Penuel (or Peniel) means “Face of God.”
8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword.
At this time the Midianite kings Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor (location unknown) with the remnant of their combined armies. Out of 135,000 only 15,000 men survived Gideon’s attack.
8:11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.
Gideon and his men traveled on the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbeath (believed to be Khirbet el-Ajbeihat, seven miles northwest of Amman, Jordan) and since the Midianite army felt secure in their camp at Karkor, Gideon was able to surprise the army causing them to panic. The kings somehow managed to flee but Gideon was able to capture them.
8:13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.
Gideon, upon returning from the battle, finds and captures a young man from Succoth near the ascent of Heres (not related to the Mount Heres located west of the Jordan near Aijalon, this location on the east side is unknown). After being questioned, the man from Succoth wrote down the names of the seventy-seven officials and elders from his city.
8:15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’ ” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
When Gideon arrived at Succoth he reminded them of what their response was to his request for bread and then carried out what he told them he was going to do after capturing the Midian kings. Gideon punished the elders by some method with thorns of the wilderness and briers (likely drag their bodies through thorns and briers), which for some was probably lethal. Gideon, upon return to Penuel, did as he promised and destroyed their tower, and he killed the men of the city.
8:18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.”
Gideon asks the kings, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” This incident is not recorded in Scripture and may have occurred during an earlier raid. The Hebrew word ‛ê·p̄ōh’, translated here as ‘where’ is a valid translation, but many prefer the word ‘what’, as it does appear that Gideon is asking what were they like.
8:19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”
Gideon, however, reveals that those men they killed were his brothers, the sons of his mother and that if they did not kill them at that time, he would not kill them now. The role of Gideon switched from a redeemer for the people of Israel to that of a kinsman redeemer, an avenger of blood (click here for more information regarding the role of an avenger of blood).
8:20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
Gideon offers his firstborn son the opportunity for vengeance, but since he was still very young he was afraid and would not kill them. Then possibly concerned that the agony of enduring a painful wound from an inexperienced swordsman or that they didn’t want to be known (humiliated) as being killed by a youth, they ask Gideon to do the killing and so he does. He took off the crescent ornaments (Hebrew śǎ·hǎrō·nîm, moon-shaped ornaments, see also Isaiah 3:18).
Considerations
Moon God
The sun and the moon play heavily in nearly every polytheistic culture and mythology. Most embrace the idea that the dominant deity is the sun god, such as Ra of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. So, it is interesting to note that the Canaanites worshiped the sun goddess Shapash and the moon god Yarikh (the chief deity of Jericho), while the ancient Arabians worshiped a moon god named Sin (also Nanna/Sîn), who fathered the sun god Shamash (also known as Shemesh, see Joshua 15:7, 10; 18:17; 19:41; 21:16) as well as Ishtar, the goddess of Venus, both cultures saw the dominant deity as a male moon god. Other than what we read in the Bible regarding Baal and Ashteroth, we know very little about the Midianite pantheon. Although not prominent until the introduction of the Roman goddess Luna, crescent-shaped jewelry often adorned animals and people dedicated to the appropriate moon god in a number of ancient cultures. Currently the crescent moon is most often used to depict Islam.
Gideon’s Golden Ephod
8:22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”
The people of Israel, being saved from oppression by Gideon, see the advantage of having a national leader and offers Gideon not only kingship, but a dynasty of kings through his sons. Gideon rejected the proposition saying that neither he nor his son will rule over them as that role belongs to YHWH alone. Gideon learned to trust and have faith in God. The author of the book of Hebrews mentions Gideon in what has become known as the “Hall of Faith” (see Hebrews 11:32). Other than a few moments of doubt before taking on the task of removing the Midianite, Amalekite, and the people of the East oppression, Gideon faithfully followed God, but then something happened to him, today we might call it “delusions of grandeur.” Perhaps not accepting the role as king, he began to act like one.
8:24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
Gideon asks the people to give to him from their spoil any earrings. We are told that the enemy had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites (this is not the first time the terms Ishmaelites and Midianites were used interchangeably, see Genesis 37:25-28, click here to see commentary). One commentator notes:
[WELLSTED (“Reisen in Arabien,” i. 224, quoted by Keil):—“The women in Omân squander considerable sums in the purchase of silver ornaments, and their children are literally laden with them. I have sometimes counted fifteen earrings on each side, and head, breast, arms, and ankles, were adorned with equal profusion.”—TR.][2]
8:25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels.
The people agreed and each man gave Gideon the earrings they obtained from the dead warriors of the enemy. We are told that the gold added up to 1,700 shekels of weight or approximately 40 pounds. We are also told that Gideon obtained the crescent ornaments, pendants, and the purple garments that kings of Midian were wearing, plus the collars (Hebrew ‛ǎnǎ·qôṯ’, a pendant, necklace) that were around the necks of their camels.
8:27 And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
Gideon made an ephod (an upper-body vest-like garment most often identified with the high priest). There have been several speculative ideas as to what this is and why from many theologians, but everyone seems to agree on one thing, that Gideon is the first judge to encourage idolatry. He placed the ephod in his home town and all of Israel whored after it there (which would be breach of their covenant with God). The verse ends on an ominous note, “it became a trap for Gideon and his family.” (Judges 8:7b, NLT)
8:28 So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
The oppressors were subdued again and the land had peace for forty years.
The Death of Gideon
8:29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
The author used both names for Gideon (see Judges 6:32), some believe that like Israel (the person) often being called Jacob after his name was changed whenever he was disobedient to God, the name Jerubbaal was referenced whenever he was disobedient, but there is little to support that idea. Gideon lived like a king, he had seventy sons and several wives, plus he had at least one concubine in Shechem who bore him a son named Abimelech (which means “my father is king”) who plays a major role in the next chapter. Gideon died at a “good old age” and was buried in his father’s tomb.
8:33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
The text reads “As soon as” (Hebrew kǎ·’ǎšěr’, which) implies an immediate transition, from YHWH fearing to total rejection of Him as they fully embrace the various Baals and made Baal-berith their god. The word ‘Berith’ refers to a covenant, which makes Baal the chief god of their covenant, not YHWH! But before oppression from another pagan nation begins we will be introduced to a self-appointed judge followed by two other judges.
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[1] Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (2006). Ariel’s Bible commentary: the books of Judges and Ruth (1st ed., p. 105). Ariel Ministries.
[2] Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Cassel, P., & Steenstra, P. H. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Judges. Logos Bible Software.