Quick recap: The Ephraimites have joined Gideon across the Jordan, carrying the heads of two Midianite princes.
Chapter 8, verses 1-3.
Some smooth talking from Gideon to defuse the Ephraimites, who seem to be upset that they were invited late to the battle.
Verses 4-9.
"And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. So he said to the men of Succoth, 'Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.'"
Really interesting that we finally get the names of the Midianite kings who were oppressing the people of Israel. We've been dealing with Midian for two chapters up to this point. Zebah and Zalmunna are the names of the מַלְכֵ֥י מִדְיָֽן׃ "kings of Midian".
This brings up a little question I had at the end of chapter 7. I am assuming that we correlate Oreb and Zeeb with these Midianite kings. Oreb and Zeeb being their sons, which is why they are called "princes" by the translators, even though the word used is שָׂרֵ֨י, which can be "princes" but more often it is translated as "chief, commander, or official."
"And the officials of Succoth said, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?' So Gideon said, 'Well then, when YHWH has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.' And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. And he said to the men of Penuel, 'When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.'" (Referring to a watchtower of their fortified city)
Succoth meaning "booths", which should be familiar to us as readers. This is where Jacob settled down and built a home after he had reconciled with Esau (Genesis 33). Penuel, you may remember, is where Jacob wrestled with God (Genesis 32).
The hostile exchange between the men of Succoth/Penuel and Gideon is unusual. This is a side of Gideon's character that we haven't really encountered before. He's vengeful and vindictive. The contrast between how he soothed tensions with the Ephraimites has to be contrasted with him exacerbating tensions with the men of Succoth and Penuel. He resorts to threats. Furthermore, he invokes the name of YHWH as he threatens the men of Succoth, despite there being absolutely no directive from YHWH to do so.
Within the narrative, these three interactions between Gideon and Ephraim, Gideon and Succoth, as well as Gideon and Penuel demonstrate the existing divisions among the tribes of Israel. (You may remember that both Succoth and Penuel were given to the tribe of Gad -- this is mentioned in Joshua 13 -- despite them falling on the eastern side of the Jordan River.) There is real in-fighting amongst the people partially because there is no singular leader, like Moses or Joshua.
The question, I guess, would be "Is Gideon's anger justified?" I think yes. Yes, in the sense that anger is a natural response to be betrayed by your own people. Still, I think it is a misstep and a sign in the narrative that we're going downhill.
I think what we see from this point on in the story of Gideon, though, is his attempt occupy that space. He'll begin operating like he is that kind of leader and it is going to have some serious consequences, especially in the life and conduct of his son, Abimelech.
Verses 10-12.
"Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic."
It's hard to know exactly where we are geographically. I know Succoth is north of Jericho, south of the Sea of Galilee, and east of the Jordan River. If Gideon has not travelled too far outside of that area (though we have very few details), and the Midianites are making their way back to the land they hail from, then I'd assume he is somewhere slightly north of what is Amman, Jordan? I could be very wrong, though! The point is: Gideon got the drop on these kings and their army. He captured the kings, routed the men, and now he is going to take a victory lap (as promised) on the men of Succoth and Penuel.
If he were truly going to be obedient, he should just kill the two kings right then and there. That's my contention.
Verses 13-17.
No one likes a sore loser.
"Then Gideon... captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. And he came to the men of Succoth and said, 'Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me..." And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city."
Yeesh. He came back with thorns and briers, kidnapped a kid, got the names of the elders, and proceeded to whip the elders of the city. Then he destroys the tower of Penuel and kills its men! What do we make of the killing? This is Gideon killing fellow Israelites.
Commentators have speculated that the men of Penuel fought back against Gideon when he was destroying their tower, which would make this a battle? The text doesn't say that, even if it seems like a logical conclusion and makes us feel better about Gideon. My opinion is that we are not meant to think of Gideon's actions here as being justified or admirable.
Verses 18-21.
"Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, 'Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?' They answered, 'As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.' And he said, 'They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As YHWH lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.' So he said to Jether his firstborn, 'Rise and kill them!' But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, 'Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.' And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels."
Really interesting couple of verses here:
First of all, we've had absolutely zero mention of Tabor (or a group of people being killed there) anywhere in the Book of Judges so far, let alone the story of Gideon. This is has just sprung into the narrative, so there's some backstory here we don't know about, regarding the Midianites and some kind of battle/massacre of a group of people at Tabor (including kin of Gideon).
Second of all, what a weird response from the two kings! "As you were, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king." I suppose that's flattery... AND FORESHADOWING.
Well, the flattery doesn't work. Gideon reveals the men at Tabor were his brothers.
Thirdly, Gideon -- after revealing his relationship to the men at Tabor -- tells these kings that he'd have spared their lives, which would go against the command to Israel to put the people in the land to the sword. And if that weren't enough on its own, he swears it's true by invoking the name of YHWH (which directly breaks a commandment).
We're really seeing a disturbing shift in Gideon's character. He hardly seems to be zealous for YHWH, at all. Instead, he is driven by his personal grudges. You could argue that it was the duty of Gideon, according to the law of the land, to avenge the blood of his family by killing their killers. But without any details regarding what actually took place at Tabor (massacre or death in battle), it is hard to make that argument.
Remember this moment of vengeance for chapter 9, as we move into the story of Abimelech.
Zebah and Zalmunna are killed (there's got to be some kind of joke you could make about the meaning of Gideon's name), and Gideon takes the crescent ornaments as his trophy. These crescent ornaments were a mark of royalty among the Midianites (You may also remember that Asherah was the goddess of fertility in Canaan and the consort of Baal. Baal was often represented by the Sun. One of Asherah's symbols was the moon).
Verses 22-28.
"Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, 'Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.' Gideon said to them, 'I will not rule over you (lol), and my son will not rule over you (lol); YHWH will rule over you.'"
(Do you remember that part in the story -- from chapter 7 -- where YHWH sent all those soldiers away because He didn't want the people of Israel to get it twisted in their minds who actually was delivering them from the Midianites? This is why He did that.)
Ok, stop right there. This, on its face, is a perfect response from Gideon. His point is... "Why are you all looking for a human ruler? YHWH is your ruler? You don't need anything else!"
​But what you will see, if you keep reading the Old Testament from here into 1 & 2 Samuel (and really starting all the way back in Exodus) is that the people don't want (never have truly wanted) YHWH as their ruler. They want a human king. They want to be like the other nations of the earth, which is so tragic, seeing as YHWH called Israel out from among the nations of the earth to be His "special treasure" to be completely unique (Exodus 19:5)! And it reaches peak tragedy in 1 Samuel 8 when YHWH tells Samuel, "...it's not you they have rejected, but they've rejected me as their king." |
"And Gideon said to them, 'Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.' (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, 'We willingly give them.' And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family."
Seems to me like Gideon is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He rejects their offer to rule over them, verbally. HOWEVER, he then proceeds to collect tribute from them, which they willingly give over (seeing as they want this guy to rule), and it's quite the haul! The text also makes it a point to mention all the royal artifacts Gideon seems to receive.
Gideon then crafts an ephod, which is a chest piece that would have been worn by a priest in the cultic practices of the day. In this context, though, it seems like this ephod was used to distinguish GIDEON from the people, ALMOST AS IF HE IS POSTURING HIMSELF AS SOME KIND OF RULER.
Either that, or the ephod bore some kind of image, maybe even to Baal or Asherah. The use of the language that Israel "whored after" the ephod suggests, to me, that it was idolatrous in nature.
"So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon."
Verses 29-35.
Jerubbaal (Gideon) the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember YHWH their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.