seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Judges 8:1 Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they challenged him vigorously.
2 But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.
4 Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. 5 He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 But the officials of Sukkoth said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?”
7 Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”
8 From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. 9 So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”
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.
Here's the link to the commentary I use. Please go read it in its entirety when you have a few minutes.Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me: Through Gideon, the call came to the people of the city of Succoth to support those who fought the battle. They were not asked to engage in the actual battle, but simply to support those on the front lines.
Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army: Instead of help, the people of Succoth and Penuel had an excuse. They didn’t want to support Israel in the fight against Midian until the battle was already won.
He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth: Apparently Gideon publicly whipped the leaders of the city of Succoth with thorns and briers as a method of public rebuke.
This is a pretty gruesome fight. Thousands of soldiers died. The Ephraimites were upset with Gideon because they were not called to serve as Gideon and his 300 men tore through the area taking out the enemies of Israel. They agreed to fight even though they lived on the other side of the Jordan. All Gideon had to do was call and they would come. Gideon told them the support they offered [farming] was much more important to them.
Gideon was in pursuit of Zebah and Zalmunna, two kings.
Check out verse 19. These two guys were guilty of killing Gideon's brothers. That's why Gideon went after these two so vigorously.
I can imagine this topic has been made into a good Western plot dozens of times. "You killed my brother... now you're gonna die!"
Check out verse 20. That too has been done in countless Western plots. He handed the sword to his oldest son. "Kill them!" His son couldn't do it.
Now I wonder... Why did the author put Gideon's son in the plot? Was it because Gideon's son had no part in war? Was it because Gideon's oldest son had no blood on his hands? I'll have to keep Jether in mind as I keep reading. There's a reason....
Hey... look at verse 21... The two kings taunted Gideon saying "do it yourself". They knew they were guilty.... I think in today's vernacular it would be written "Come on get it over with!".
And now... I'm out here in Arizona. There are cacti everywhere. There's even a cactus called a "jumping cholla" that will throw needles at anything that comes too close. First those needles hurt... then they burn... then there are some left behind that you can't see... and then they itch like crazy... and the little ones you can't see... get picked up by the fingers as you scratch... starting it all over again. When I read about the thorns and briers, I imagined Gideon dragging the men through a field full of cacti. I think using whips with thorns and briers imbedded in the straps would be more appropriate for this plot.
My online Bible titled this chapter for the two kings Gideon pursued and killed. I don't think those two have the right to be the title.
I think I'll title it more over the interaction of Gideon and his son Jether.
"Do it yourself!"
Don't put blood on your son's hands......
