Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
Jerubbaal. It appears that Jerubbaal had now become the surname of Gideon. He is mentioned by Sanchoniathon, quoted by Eusebius, who lived in the reign of Ithobal, king of Tyre, and consequently a little after the time of Gideon, by the name of Jerombalus, a priest of Jeuo or Jao.
Judges 6:32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead …
rose up
Genesis 22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, …
Joshua 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, …
Joshua 6:12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the …
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there …
moreh
Genesis 12:6 And Abram passed through the land to the place of Sichem, to the …
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
too many
1 Samuel 14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armor, Come, and …
2 Chronicles 14:11 And Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing …
Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of the …
Zechariah 12:7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first…
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…
1 Corinthians 2:4,5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's …
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency …
2 Corinthians 10:4,5 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through …
Israel
Deuteronomy 32:27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries …
Isaiah 2:11,17 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men …
Jeremiah 9:23 Thus said the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither …
Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? No: …
Romans 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, you bore not the …
1 Corinthians 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Why he said, God resists the proud, but …
mine own
Deuteronomy 8:17 And you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has …
Isaiah 10:13 For he said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my …
Ezekiel 28:2,17 Son of man, say to the prince of Tyrus, Thus said the Lord GOD; Because …
Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have …
Habakkuk 1:16 Therefore they sacrifice to their net, and burn incense to their …
Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
whosoever
Deuteronomy 20:8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall …
Matthew 13:21 Yet has he not root in himself, but endures for a while: for when …
Luke 14:25-33 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said to them…
Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: …
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, …
mount Gilead. Gideon was certainly not at mount Gilead, east of Jordan at this time; but rather near mount Gilboa, west of Jordan. Calmet thinks there must either have been two Gileads, which does not appear from Scripture to have been the case, or that the Hebrew text is corrupt, and that for Gilead we should read Gilboa. This reading, though adopted by Houbigant, is not confirmed by an MS or version. Dr. Hales endeavours to reconcile the whole, by the supposition that in Gideon's army there were many eastern Manassites from mount Gilead, near the Midianites; and therefore proposed to read, 'Whosoever from mount Gilead is fearful and afraid, let him return (home) and depart early.' twenty.
Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, …
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
people
Psalm 33:16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man …
I will
Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, …
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the …
Job 23:10 But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come …
Psalm 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish …
Psalm 66:10 For you, O God, have proved us: you have tried us, as silver is tried.
Jeremiah 6:27-30 I have set you for a tower and a fortress among my people, that you …
Malachi 3:2,3 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when …
So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
lappeth. The original word yalok, is precisely the sound which the dog makes in lapping. It appears that it is not unusual for the Arabs to drink water out of the palms of their hands; and, from this account, we learn that the Israelites did so occasionally. Dr. A. Clarke, in his edition of Harmer, has presented us with the following curious MS note from Dr. Russell. 'When they take water with the palms of their hands, they naturally place themselves on their hams, to be nearer the water; but when they drink from a pitcher or gourd, fresh filled, they do not sit down on purpose to drink, but drink standing, and very often put the sleeve of their shirt over the mouth of the vessel, by way of strainer, lest small leeches might have been taken up with the water. For the same reason they often prefer taking the water with the palm of the hand to lapping it from the surface.' From the letters of Busbequius we learn, that the Eastern people are not in the habit of drinking standing. The
And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
the same
Genesis 46:2,3 And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, …
Job 4:13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
Job 33:15,16 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, …
Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD …
Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appears …
Acts 18:9,10 Then spoke the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, …
Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
arise
Joshua 1:5-9 There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days …
Isaiah 41:10-16 Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: …
Isaiah 43:1,2 But now thus said the LORD that created you, O Jacob, and he that …
I have delivered
Judges 3:10,28 And the Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel, and …
Judges 4:14,15 And Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD …
2 Chronicles 16:8,9 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many …
2 Chronicles 20:17 You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand …
But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:
And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.
thou shalt
Judges 7:13-15 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream …
Genesis 24:14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let …
1 Samuel 14:8,12 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to these men, and we …
thine hands
1 Samuel 23:16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and …
Ezra 6:22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the …
Nehemiah 6:9 For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened …
Isaiah 35:3,4 Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees…
2 Corinthians 12:9,10 And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength …
Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to …
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
armed men. or ranks by five
Exodus 13:18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of …
And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
the Midianites
Judges 6:3,5,33 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, …
1 Kings 4:30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the …
grasshoppers
Judges 8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, …
2 Chronicles 14:9-12 And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host …
Psalm 3:1 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that …
Psalm 33:16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man …
Psalm 118:10-12 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will …
Isaiah 8:9,10 Associate yourselves, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces; …
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
lo, a cake
Judges 3:15,31 But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised …
Judges 4:9,21 And she said, I will surely go with you: notwithstanding the journey …
Judges 6:15 And he said to him, Oh my Lord, with which shall I save Israel? …
Isaiah 41:14,15 Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, …
1 Corinthians 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…
And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
his fellow
Numbers 22:38 And Balaam said to Balak, See, I am come to you: have I now any power …
Numbers 23:5,20 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, …
Numbers 24:10-13 And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands …
Job 1:10 Have not you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about …
into his hand
Exodus 15:14,15 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the …
Joshua 2:9,24 And she said to the men, I know that the LORD has given you the land, …
Joshua 5:1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were …
2 Kings 7:6,7 For the LORD had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of …
And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
interpretation thereof. Heb. breaking thereof
Genesis 40:8 And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter …
Genesis 41:11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man …
worshipped
Genesis 24:16,17,48 And the damsel was very fair to look on, a virgin, neither had any …
Exodus 4:30,31 And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, …
2 Chronicles 20:18,19 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all …
arise
Judges 4:14 And Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD …
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through …
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
three companies. This small number of men, thus divided, would be able to encompass the whole camp of the Midianites. Concealing the lamps in the pitchers, they would pass unobserved to their appointed stations; then, in the dead of the night, when most of the enemy were fast asleep, all at once breaking their pitchers one against another, with as much noise as they could, and blowing the trumpets and shouting; they would occasion an exceedingly great alarm. The obedience of faith alone could have induced such an expedient, which no doubt God directed Gideon to employ. --Scott. a trumpet. Heb. trumpets in the hand of all of them. empty
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency …
lamps. or fire-brands, or torches
And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.
When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
blow ye
Judges 7:20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, …
the sword. The word cherev, 'sword,' necessarily implied, and rightly supplied by our venerable translators from ver.20, is found in this place, in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabis, and in eight MSS; and evidently appears to be genuine
1 Samuel 17:47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword …
2 Chronicles 20:15-17 And he said, Listen you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, …
So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
in the beginning
Exodus 14:24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked to …
Matthew 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; …
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as …
Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps …
they blew
Judges 7:8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and …
brake
Judges 7:16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he …
Psalm 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces …
Jeremiah 13:13,14 Then shall you say to them, Thus said the LORD, Behold, I will fill …
Jeremiah 19:1-11 Thus said the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take …
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
blew. How astonishing and overwhelming must the effect be, in a dark night, of the sudden glare of
Numbers 10:1-10 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying…
Joshua 6:4,16,20 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' …
Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown…
1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the …
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with …
brake
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency …
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, …
2 Peter 1:15 Moreover I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to …
And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
stood
Exodus 14:13,14 And Moses said to the people, Fear you not, stand still, and see …
2 Chronicles 20:17 You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand …
Isaiah 30:7,15 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore …
all the host
Exodus 14:25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: …
2 Kings 7:6,7 For the LORD had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of …
Job 15:21,22 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall …
Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no man pursues: but the righteous are bold as a lion.
And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
blew
Joshua 6:4,16,20 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' …
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency …
the Lord
1 Samuel 14:16-20 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, …
2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants …
Psalm 83:9 Do to them as to the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the …
Isaiah 9:4 For you have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his …
Isaiah 19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall …
in. or, toward. Zererath. Probably the same as Zartanah
1 Kings 4:12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and …
border. Heb. lip. Abelmeholah. Situated, according to Eusebius
1 Kings 4:12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and …
1 Kings 19:16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel…
Tabbath. probably the town mentioned by Eusebius,
And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
two princes
Judges 8:3 God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and …
Psalm 83:11,12 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yes, all their princes …
rock.
Joshua 7:26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones to this day. So the …
Isaiah 10:26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a whip for him according to the …
Oreb. Eusebius and Jerome speak of a small place called Araba, three miles west from Scythopolis, which is supposed by some to have had its name from Oreb. and brought. Among ancient nations, the head of the conquered chief was usually brought to the conqueror. Thus Pompey's head was brought to Caesar, Cicero's head to Mark Anthony, and the heads of Ahab's children to Jehu. These barbarities are seldom practised now, except among the Mahommedans, or the savages of Africa and America; and for the credit of human nature, it is to be wished that such atrocities had never been committed. on the other side. The words maiaiver lyyarden, may denote at the passage of Jordan, or from beyond Jordan. Gideon does not appear to have yet passed the Jordan.
Judges 8:4 And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred …
