Judges 8 Zebah and Zalmunna

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Judges 8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. 11 Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

13 Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. 14 He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth, the elders of the town. 15 Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” 16 He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. 17 He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.

18 Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

19 Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” 20 Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels’ necks.

I'm sticking with Bibletrack.org this morning.

First, after having defeated 120,000 with his band of 300, he goes after the remaining 15,000 that had fled and captures their two kings. Now, it's back to his fellow Jewish brethren in Succoth and Penuel with the two enemy kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, in tow. Hey Succoth and Penuel! Are these the two kings you thought we couldn't defeat? Those folks had bet on the wrong horse (so to speak). Gideon collects from these cowards - IN BLOOD. Gideon's actions may seem excessive here, but God had appointed Gideon to be the battle commander, and the men of these two cities aided the enemies of not only Gideon, but God himself. Traitors don't usually get favorable treatment...in anyone's army. Oh...and the two captured kings - they admit to having killed Gideon's brothers. If there was any thought of letting these guys live, this admission pretty much negates that idea. Gideon's son (Jether) is not fond of the notion of avenging his uncles, so Gideon himself does the honors.

Gideon's son Jether is important here.... I started to call this posting "a little insane". Why would Gideon tell his son to kill those two kings? The Bible calls him a boy.... so he must have been less than 12 right?

Can you see the scene? Gideon's son is watching as Gideon "questions" the two kings. Once he learns that they admit killing Israelites, then it's a matter of blood for blood. [Deuteronomy 19:6 so he tells his son to kill them.

If they were on a deer stand in the middle of a forest and it was a buck in place of two kings.... then Gideon's actions would be good.... but we're not in the middle of a forest. These are two humans.... and they are apparently very much alive, so this isn't a mercy thing. His son must have been petrified by his father's rantings. Maybe tears were forming in his son's eyes.....

So was Gideon being mean, even including his young son in the fit of rage, or was Gideon attempting to hand down God's law to his sons? If this man Gideon would hand a sword to a child and have him put a human to death.... what is the fate of those Israelites who refused to help him chase those two kings down? Will they face the same fate as the basketball in the cholla patch?

:coffee:
 
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