Judges 7

Gideon's Three Hundred Men

1 Then ¹Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside ²the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, ³by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2 The LORD said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, ⁴lest Israel boast over me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'

3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ⁵'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'" Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

4 And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' shall not go."

5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, "Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink."

6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.

7 And the LORD said to Gideon, ⁶"With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home."

8 So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him ⁷in the valley.

9 That same ⁸night the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, ⁹for I have given it into your hand.

10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.

11 ¹⁰And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp."¹¹Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.

12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and ¹²all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, ¹³as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.

13 When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat."

14 And his comrade answered, "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp."

15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, "Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand."

16 And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with ¹⁴torches inside the jars.

17 And he said to them, "Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.

18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ¹⁵'For the LORD and for Gideon.'"

Gideon Defeats Midian

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.

20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. ¹⁶And they cried out, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!"

21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, ¹⁷and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.

22 ¹⁸When they blew the 300 trumpets, ¹⁹the LORD set ²⁰every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,^[a] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.

23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

24 ²¹Gideon sent messengers throughout ²²all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as ²³Beth-barah, and also the Jordan." So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.

25 And they captured ²⁴the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb ²⁵at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ²⁶across the Jordan.

Judges 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

Gideon's army reduced. (1-8) Gideon is encouraged. (9-15) The defeat of the Midianites. (16-22) The Ephraimites take Oreb and Zeeb. (23-25)

1-8. God provides that the praise of victory may be wholly to himself, by appointing only three hundred men to be employed. Activity and prudence go with dependence upon God for help in our lawful undertakings. When the Lord sees that men would overlook him, and through unbelief, would shrink from perilous services, or that through pride they would vaunt themselves against him, he will set them aside, and do his work by other instruments. Pretences will be found by many, for deserting the cause and escaping the cross. But though a religious society may thus be made fewer in numbers, yet it will gain as to purity, and may expect an increased blessing from the Lord. God chooses to employ such as are not only well affected, but zealously affected in a good thing. They grudged not at the liberty of the others who were dismissed. In doing the duties required by God, we must not regard the forwardness or backwardness of others, nor what they do, but what God looks for at our hands. He is a rare person who can endure that others should excel him in gifts or blessings, or in liberty; so that we may say, it is by the special grace of God that we regard what God says to us, and not look to men what they do.

Verses 9-15 The dream seemed to have little meaning in it; but the interpretation evidently proved the whole to be from the Lord, and discovered that the name of Gideon had filled the Midianites with terror. Gideon took this as a sure pledge of success; without delay he worshipped and praised God, and returned with confidence to his three hundred men. Wherever we are, we may speak to God, and worship him. God must have the praise of that which encourages our faith. And his providence must be acknowledged in events, though small and seemingly accidental.

Verses 16-22 This method of defeating the Midianites may be alluded to, as exemplifying the destruction of the devil's kingdom in the world, by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the sounding that trumpet, and the holding forth that light out of earthen vessels, for such are the ministers of the gospel, 2Co. 4:6, 2Co. 4:7 . God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, a barley-cake to overthrow the tents of Midian, that the excellency of the power might be of God only. The gospel is a sword, not in the hand, but in the mouth: the sword of the Lord and of Gideon; of God and Jesus Christ, of Him that sits on the throne and the Lamb. The wicked are often led to avenge the cause of God upon each other, under the power of their delusions, and the fury of their passions. See also how God often makes the enemies of the church instruments to destroy one another; it is a pity that the church's friends should ever act like them.

Verses 23-25 Two chief commanders of the host of Midian were taken and slain by the men of Ephraim. It were to be wished that we all did as these did, and that where help is needed, that it were willingly and readily performed by another. And that if there were any excellent and profitable matter begun, we were willing to have fellow-labourers to the finishing and perfecting the same, and not, as often, hinder one another.

Cross References

• 1. Judges 6:32
• 2. [1 Samuel 29:1]
• 3. Genesis 12:6; Deuteronomy 11:30
• 4. Deuteronomy 8:17; [Isaiah 10:13]
• 5. Deuteronomy 20:8
• 6. [1 Samuel 14:6; 2 Chronicles 14:11]
• 7. ver. 1
• 8. Genesis 46:2, 3; 1 Kings 3:5
• 9. See Judges 3:28
• 10. See ver. 13-15
• 11. [1 Samuel 14:9, 10]
• 12. See Judges 6:3
• 13. Joshua 11:4
• 14. Judges 15:4; Genesis 15:17
• 15. [Exodus 14:13, 14; 2 Chronicles 20:17]
• 16. [See ver. 18 above]
• 17. [2 Kings 7:7]
• 18. [Josh. 6:4, 16, 20]
• 19. [Psalms 83:9; Isaiah 9:4]
• 20. 1 Samuel 14:20; [2 Chronicles 20:23]
• 21. Judges 6:35
• 22. See Joshua 24:33
• 23. [Judges 3:28]
• 24. Judges 8:3; Psalms 83:11
• 25. Isaiah 10:26
• 26. Judges 8:4

Footnotes

• [a]. Some Hebrew manuscripts Zeredah

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 7

In this chapter we have an account of the army under Gideon gathered out of several tribes, which from 32,000 were reduced to three hundred, and we are told by what means this was done, Jud 7:1-8 and how he was directed to go into the host of the Midianites, where he heard one of them telling his dream to his fellow, which greatly encouraged him to believe he should succeed, Jud 7:9-15 also we are told the form and manner in which he disposed of his little army to attack the Midianites, and the orders he gave them to observe, which had the desired effect, and issued in the total rout of that large body of people, Jud 7:16-22 and those that were not destroyed were pursued by persons gathered out of several tribes, and the passages of Jordan were taken by the Ephraimites, so that those that attempted their escape into their own country, there fell into their hands, Jud 7:23-25.