Judges 8

CHAPTER 8

Zebah and Zalmunna (8:1–21)

1–3 Ephraim and Manasseh (Gideon’s tribe) were the two major Israelite tribes in northern Canaan; therefore, the Ephraimites felt snubbed that they had not been called to join Gideon in the beginning (Judges 6:34–35).Perhaps they were upset that they had lost a share of the plunder.

However, Gideon told the Ephraimites that even though they had been called late to the battle (Judges 7:24), the leftovers—the gleanings—of the plunder they were able to gather turned out to be greater than that of Abiezer, Gideon’s clan. Instead of an argument, Gideon wisely gave them a gentle answer, which turned away their wrath (Proverbs 15:1).

4–9 After the major defeat of the Midianite forces, Gideon continued to pursue two of their kings, Zebah and Zalmunna³⁹ (verse 5). He pursued them across the Jordan into the tribal territory of Gad. His three hundred troops were exhausted, so Gideon requested food from the men of Succoth, one of the towns of Gad (Genesis 33:17). The men refused; they doubted Gideon’s ability to capture the two kings, and they feared that the kings would retaliate against Succoth if they found out that its people had helped Gideon. Gideon then threatened the men of Succoth with punishment for refusing to help their fellow Israelites (verse 7).

Gideon met with a similar refusal from the men of Peniel (verses 8–9), a town a short distance from Succoth (Genesis 32:28–30).

10–17 These verses recount Gideon’s capture of the two kings, and the subsequent punishment he inflicted on the men of Succoth and Peniel.

18–21 Only here do we discover the real reason why Gideon had pursued the two Midianite kings: they had ordered the killing of Gideon’s brothers—the sons of my own mother⁴⁰ (verse 19). Gideon asked his son to kill the two kings in order to further humiliate them: to be killed by a boy or a woman was considered a disgrace in ancient times. But when his son was afraid to do so, Gideon executed the kings himself (verse 21).

Gideon’s Ephod (8:22–27)

22–23 After the great victory over Midian, the Israelites asked Gideon to become their ruler—because, they said, he had saved Israel. Gideon rightly refused; it was the Lord who had saved Israel. “The LORD will rule over you,” Gideon told them (verse 23).

24–27 Then Gideon made an odd request. The Ishmaelites (Midianites) wore gold earrings, and many of these earrings would have been taken as plunder. Gideon asked each of the Israelites who had taken plunder to give him one earring. The weight of the gold earrings that Gideon collected came to seventeen hundred shekels (about twenty kilograms). Gideon then melted the earrings down and fashioned the gold into a replica of the high priest’s ephod⁴¹ (verse 27). Though Gideon’s original intention may have been good, the ephod he made soon came to be regarded as an idol. Far from helping Israel discern God’s will, it became a snare leading the people into idolatry.

Gideon’s Death (8:28–35)

28–32 During Gideon’s lifetime, Israel remained at peace and the Israelites did not worship the Canaanite gods (verse 33). Though Gideon refused to be Israel’s king, he certainly lived like one. He had seventy sons and many wives (verse 30); in addition, he had at least one concubine, a low-ranking wife, who appears to have kept living with her own family in Shechem (verse 31). This concubine bore Gideon a son, who is the subject of the next chapter.

33–35 As was the case with all the previous judges, things went well in Israel only as long as Gideon remained alive (Judges 2:18). After he died, however, the people again prostituted themselves to the Baals (verse 33), the gods of the Canaanites (see Judges 2:11–13,17). They forgot both the Lord who had saved them (verse 34) and the leader who had led them (verse 35). It is only because of God’s amazing grace that the history of Israel doesn’t end right here in the book of Judges!