Judges 8:20

20 Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, "Get up and kill them." The youth did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was still a youth.

Judges 8:20 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 8:20

And he said unto Jether, his firstborn, up, and slay them,
&c.] Being the near kinsman of his father's brethren, whom these kings had slain, was a proper person to avenge their blood on them; and the rather Gideon might order him to do it, for the greater mortification of the kings, to die by the hand of a youth; and for the honour of his son, to be the slayer of two kings, and to inure him to draw his sword against the enemies of Israel, and embolden him to do such exploits:

but the youth drew not his sword, for he feared, because he was yet a
youth;
his not drawing is sword was not out of disobedience to his father, but through fear of the kings; not of their doing him any harm, being bound; but there was perhaps a ferocity, as well as majesty in their countenances, which made the young man timorous and fearful.

Judges 8:20 In-Context

18 He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?" "They were like you," they said. "Each resembled the son of a king."

19 So he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you."

20 Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, "Get up and kill them." The youth did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was still a youth.

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Get up and kill us yourself, for a man is judged by his strength." So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian."