Judges 8

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1Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they criticized him sharply.

2But 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?

3God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

4Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it.

5He said to the men of Succoth, “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

6But the officials of Succoth said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?”

7Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

8From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Succoth had.

9So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”

10Now 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.

11Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army.

12Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

13Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.

14He caught a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the elders of the town.

15Then Gideon came and said to the men of Succoth, “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 men?’ ”

16He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers.

17He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.

18Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

19Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.”

20Turning 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.

21Zebah 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 off their camels' necks.

22The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us–you, your son and your grandson–because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.”

23But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”

24And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

25They answered, “We'll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it.

26The 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 that were on their camels' necks.

27Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

28Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years.

29Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live.

30He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.

31His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech.

32Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and

34did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

35They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.

Commentary

CHAPTER 8Jud 8:1-9. The Ephraimites Offended, but Pacified.1. the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus?—Where this complaint was made, whether before or after the crossing of the Jordan, cannot be determined. By the overthrow of the national enemy, the Ephraimites were benefited as largely as any of the other neighboring tribes. But, piqued at not having been sharers in the glory of the victory, their leading men could not repress their wounded pride; and the occasion only served to bring out an old and deep-seated feeling of jealous rivalry that subsisted between the tribes (Isa 9:21). The discontent was groundless, for Gideon acted according to divine directions. Besides, as their tribe was conterminous with that of Gideon, they might, had they been really fired with the flame of patriotic zeal, have volunteered their services in a movement against the common enemy.

8:1 Why haft thou, and c. - Why hast thou neglected and despised us, in not calling us in to thy help, as thou didst other tribes? These were a proud people, puffed up with a conceit of their number and strength, and the preference which Jacob gave them above Manasseh, of which tribe Gideon was, who by this act had seemed to advance his own tribe, and to depress theirs.

8:1-3 Those who will not attempt or venture any thing in the cause of God, will be the most ready to censure and quarrel with such as are of a more zealous and enterprising spirit. And those who are the most backward to difficult services, will be the most angry not to have the credit of them. Gideon stands here as a great example of self-denial; and shows us that envy is best removed by humility. The Ephraimites had given vent to their passion in very wrong freedom of speech, a certain sign of a weak cause: reason runs low when chiding flies high.

Chapter 8 This chapter gives us a further account of Gideon’s victory over the Midianites, with the residue of the story of his life and government. I. Gideon prudently pacifies the offended Ephraimites (v. 1-3). II. He bravely pursues the flying Midianites (v. 4, 10–12). III. He justly chastises the insolence of the men of Succoth and Penuel, who basely abused him (v. 5-9), and were reckoned with for it (v. 13–17). IV. He honourably slays the two kings of Midian (v. 18–21). V. After all this he modestly declines the government of Israel (v. 22, 23). VI. He foolishly gratified the superstitious humour of his people by setting up an ephod in his own city, which proved a great snare (v. 24–27). VII. He kept the country quiet for forty years (v. 28). VIII. He died in honour, and left a numerous family behind him (v. 29–32). IX. Both he and his God were soon forgotten by ungrateful Israel (v. 33–35).Verses 1-3 No sooner were the Midianites, the common enemy, subdued, than, through the violence of some hot spirits, the children of Israel were ready to quarrel among themselves; an unhappy spark was struck, which, if Gideon had not with a great deal of wisdom and grace extinguished immediately, might have broken out into a flame of fatal consequence. The Ephraimites, when they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon as general, instead of congratulating him upon his successes and addressing him with thanks for his great services, as they ought to have done, picked a quarrel with him and grew very hot upon it.I. Their accusation was very peevish and unreasonable: Why didst thou not call us when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? v. 1. Ephraim was brother to Manasseh, Gideon’s tribe, and had the pre-eminence in Jacob’s blessing and in Moses’s, and therefore was very jealous of Manasseh, lest that tribe should at any time eclipse the honour of theirs. Hence we find Manasseh against Ephraim and Ephraim against Manasseh, Isa. 9:21. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and their contentions are as the bars of a castle, Prov. 18:19. But how unjust was their quarrel with Gideon! They were angry that he did not send for them to begin the attack upon Midian, as well as to follow the blow. Why were they not called to lead the van? The post of honour, they thought, belonged to them. But, 1. Gideon was called of God, and must act as he directed; he neither took the honour to himself nor did he himself dispose of honours, but left it to God to do all. So that the Ephraimites, in this quarrel, reflected upon the divine conduct; and what was Gideon that they murmured against him? 2. Why did not the Ephraimites offer themselves willingly to the service? They knew the enemy was in their country, and had heard of the forces that were raising to oppose them, to which they ought to have joined themselves, in zeal for the common cause, though they had not a formal invitation. Those seek themselves more than God that stand upon a point of honour to excuse themselves from doing real service to God and their generation. In Deborah’s time there was a root of Ephraim, ch. 5:14. Why did not this appear now? The case itself called them, they needed not wait for a call from Gideon. 3. Gideon had saved their credit in not calling them. If he had sent for them, no doubt may of them would have gone back with the faint-hearted, or been dismissed with the lazy, slothful, and intemperate; so that by not calling them he prevented the putting of those slurs upon them. Cowards will seem valiant when the danger is over, but those consult their reputation who try not their courage when danger is near.II. Gideon’s answer was very calm and peaceable, and was intended not so much to justify himself as to please and pacify them, v. 2, 3. He answers them, 1. With a great deal of meekness and temper. He did not resent the affront, nor answer anger with anger, but mildly reasoned the case with them, and he won as true honour by this command which he had over his own passion as by his victory over the Midianites. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. 2.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG የኤፍሬም ሰዎች፦ ይህ ያደረግህብን ምንድር ነው? ምድያምን ለመዋጋት በወጣህ ጊዜ ለምን አልጠራኸንም? አሉት። ጽኑ ጥልም ተጣሉት። አማርኛ BCV ሰብ ኤፍሬም ድማ “እቲ ምስ ምድያማውያን ክትዋጋእ ኽትከይድ እንተለኻስ ስለ ምንታይ ዘይፀዋዕኻና? ንምንታይከ ኸምዙይ ገበርካና?” በልዎ። ኣበርቲዖምውን ተፃልእዎ። ትግርኛ GAZBIB Ergasii namoonni Efreem,“Ati warra Miidiyaan loluudhaaf yommuu baate maaliif nu waamuu didde” Maaliif akkas nu goote?” … Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወይቤልዎ ሰብአ ኤፍሬም፦ ምንት ዝንቱ ነገር ዘገበርከ ላዕሌነ ከመ ኢትጸውዐነ አመ ሖርከ ትትቃተሎሙ ለምድያም? ወተሳነኑ ምስሌሁ ዐቢየ ተስናነ። giz GAZGAZ Ergasii namoonni Efreem,“Ati warra Miidiyaan loluudhaaf yommuu baate maaliif nu waamuu didde” Maaliif akkas nu goote?” … Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum ሰብ ኤፍሬም ድማ “እቲ ምስ ምድያማውያን ክትዋጋእ ኽትከይድ እንተለኻስ ስለ ምንታይ ዘይፀዋዕኻና? ንምንታይከ ኸምዙይ ገበርካና?” በልዎ። ኣበርቲዖምውን ተፃልእዎ። ትግርኛ AMHNIV በዚህ ጊዜ የኤፍሬም ሰዎች፣ “ምድያማውያንን ለመውጋት ስትሄድ ለምን አልጠራኸንም? ለምንስ እንዲህ ያለ ነገር አደረግህ?” በማለት ጌዴዎንን እጅግ ነቀፉት። አማርኛ SWAHSUV Basi watu wa Efraimu wakamwambia, Kwa nini wewe kututendea sisi kama haya? Hata usituite, hapo ulipokwenda kupigana na … Kiswahili