Judges 7–8

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal^a (that is, Gideon^b) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod.^c The camp of Midian^d was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.^e The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength^f has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.^g’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many^h men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of themⁱ lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.^j Let all the others go, each to his own place.”^k So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.^l If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites^m and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.ⁿ Their camels^o could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.^p

Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash,^q the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped.^r He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”^s Dividing the three hundred men^t into three companies,^u he placed trumpets^v and empty jars^w in the hands of all of them, with torches^x inside.

“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets,^y then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars^z that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches^a in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword^b for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.^c

When the three hundred trumpets sounded,^d the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other^e with their swords.^f The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah^g near Tabbath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher^h and all Manasseh were called out,ⁱ and they pursued the Midianites.^j Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan^k ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.”

So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb^l. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb,^m and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianitesⁿ and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.^o

Zebah and Zalmunna

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon,^a “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?^b”^c And they challenged him vigorously.^d

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?^e God gave Oreb and Zeeb,^f the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan^g and crossed it. He said to the men of Sukkoth,^h “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out,ⁱ and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna,^j the kings of Midian.”

But the officials of Sukkoth^k said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread^l to your troops?”^m

Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunnaⁿ into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

From there he went up to Peniel^o and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”^p

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.^q Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah^r and Jogbehah^s and attacked the unsuspecting army. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

Gideon son of Joash^t then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.^u 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,^v the elders^w of the town. 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 troops?^x’ ” He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson^y by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel^z and killed the men of the town.^a

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

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

Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives,^c if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” 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.

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^d off their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule^a over you.” And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring^b from your share of the plunder.^c” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites^d to wear gold earrings.)

They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains^e that were on their camels’ necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod,^f which he placed in Ophrah,^g his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare^h to Gideon and his family.ⁱ

Gideon’s Death

Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head^a again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace^b forty years.

Jerub-Baal^c son of Joash^d went back home to live. He had seventy sons^e of his own, for he had many wives. His concubine,^f who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.^g Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age^h and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals.ⁱ They set up Baal-Berith^j as their god^k and did not remember^l the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal^m (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.ⁿ