Judges 7, Gideon's Three Hundred

Gideon, led by the messenger of YHWH, prepares to attack the Midianites.

Judges 7: 1-3, Remove 22,000 men

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.

The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, `Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" 

So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

Gideon says, "If you are frightened, go home!"  Two-thirds of the fighters take him up on this. YHWH wants no excuses.

Judges 7: 4-8, Remove some more

But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, `This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, `This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go."

So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." 

Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place."

So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.

Gideon says, "If you drink by drawing the water up to your mouth with your hand, stay.  Otherwise go home."  Finally there are only 300 soldiers.

There have been a variety of suggestions as to why these two methods of drinking would separate soldiers. Those who kneel down to drink were sent home. The other posture (lapping water like a dog/lapping with their hands to their mouths) is not clear. Some claim this second posture, used by only 300 men, demonstrated alertness for battle. Other commentators disagree. Some claim that Gideon merely uses this method as a way to trim the army to a size acceptable by YHWH's messenger.

When the rest of the army leaves, Gideon holds onto the provisions, including some trumpets.

Judges 7: 9-12, Listen in

During that night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.  If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah
and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp." So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.

The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

YHWH instructs Gideon to listen in on some of the conversations of this large cohort.

Judges 7: 13-14, One man's dream

Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed."

His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands."

Midianites are having bad dreams. Gideon overhears one Midianite predicting defeat, since God is on Gideon's side.

Judges 7: 15-18, Gideon hears and worships

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands."

Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

"Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, `For the LORD and for Gideon.'"

Gideon, excited by what he overheard, prepares a surprise attack.  He appears to have access to 300 trumpets, jars and torches, left over from supplies for the greater army. The much smaller army that remains is divided into three companies, each man with trumpets, jars and torches. The torches are inside the jars so that the light of the torches is blocked.

Judges 7: 19-22, Trumpets and broken jars

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.

The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!"

While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

In the dark the followers of Gideon blow trumpets, break jars and hold up torches. The sudden appearance of 300 jars and trumpets indicates a much larger army.  The men of Gideon stay put, not attacking, but the Midianites react in terror and flee, attacking others in the chaos.  So the Midianites are routed without a real attack by Gideons men.

Judges 7: 23-25, Come down and help us

Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.

Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah." 

So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

The men of Ephraim join in the rout.  Two Midianite leaders are captured and executed. Their places of execution are then named after the killed Midianite chieftains.

Judges 6, Call of Gideon

Now Israel needs another judge. This will be our fifth, after Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar and Deborah. This judge will have a spotted history and his reign will hint at the fractured and degraded nature of Israel

Judges 6: 1-5, Midianite oppression

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.

The Israelites have to build hideaways in caves in the hills, to protect themselves from the Midianites. The Midianites, "like locusts" would swarm over Israel and destroy their crops and animals.

Judges 6: 6-10, Cry to YHWH

Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help. When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land.  I said to you, `I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me."

Eventually the Israelites cry out -- they are so impoverished that they need God again.  An unamed prophet is sent out.  (This may represent a summary of what is to come.)

Judges 6: 11-18, A messenger visits Gideon

The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

"But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, `Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

"But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."

A "messenger" from YHWH appears to Gideon.  Gideon is secretly threshing wheat in a winepress, a small area that would have allowed him to stay out of the view of Midianites. (A photo of an ancient Hebrew winepress is here.) The village of Ophrah of Abiezrite, in Manasseh, was probably close to Shechem. (There is apparently another Ophrah in Benjamin; this Wikipedia stub.)

The author of Judges reports a dialogue between YHWH and His chosen prophet.  Just like Moses, Gideon argues back.

The phrase "My clan is the weakest..." uses the Hebrew word eleph. That Hebrew word, often translated "thousand", is translated "clan" here as "thousand" does not fit the context.

Judges 6: 19-21, The messenger lights a fire

Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." 

And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared.

The messenger displays power by setting the sacrifice on fire. The burnt offering requires no fire from Gideon.

Judges 6: 22-24, YHWH is Peace

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"

But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon's eyes are open now.  This is not a human messenger. Gideon then creates an altar that still stands in the time of the author of Judges at the site of Ophrah

Judges 6: 25-27, Asherah pole cut down

That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

Gideon acts against the village idols, but he is still timid.

Judges 6: 28-32, Joash defends Gideon

In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! They asked each other, "Who did this?" 

When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it."

The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar."

So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.

The townspeople discover the culprit but Gideon's father defends Gideon -- and suggests a challenge to Baal. Because of this challenge, Gideon receives a second name, Jerub-Baal.

Judges 6: 33-35, Gideon calls out an army

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

Once Gideon is identified as opposing Baal, emboldened by the Spirit of YHWH, Gideon takes an active role in resisting the eastern people (from across the Jordan) who are oppressing them. Several tribes are called out to form an army

Judges 6: 36-40, A fleece

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised-- look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said."

And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew--a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew."

That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Gideon calls out the tribes but also lays out a test using a wool fleece. Twice. Apparently the result of the first test is more natural, as the fleece would tend to absorb water during the cool night.  The second test is less natural and apparently more convincing to Gideon.

These tests, have come down through the ages as "Gideon's fleece". I recall, as a teenager, people using the idea of this chapter to test God's direction by demanding some type of special, miraculous response. But there is nothing in the text that recommends Gideon's actions. Gideon's "laying out a fleece" here reveals his timidity and his desire to avoid the commandments clearly given him already by the supernatural messenger. In this case, the messenger seems unperturbed by Gideon's timidity and answers his tests anyway. Gideon is now locked into action.

Judges 5, Deborah's Song

Deborah has defeated Sisera and his army. Like Moses and Miriam before her, she sings praises to her God.

Judges 5: 1-3, Sing praises!

On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

"When the princes in Israel take the lead, 

when the people willingly offer themselves-- praise the LORD!

"Hear this, you kings! 

Listen, you rulers! 

I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; 

I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel.

Deborah and Barak sing a song of praise to YHWH who has led them out of oppression. A song of praise will always be a deep, important part of Hebrew worship, with the Old Testament songbook, The Psalms, as its high point.

Judges 5: 4-6, YHWH marched out and the earth shook!

"O LORD, when you went out from Seir, 

when you marched from the land of Edom, 

the earth shook, 

the heavens poured, 

the clouds poured down water.

The mountains quaked before the LORD,

 the One of Sinai, 

before the LORD, the God of Israel.

"In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, 

in the days of Jael, 

the roads were abandoned; 

travelers took to winding paths.

It is God that marched out, not just Deborah and her soldiers. Briefly, Shamgar is mentioned again.  (He is mentioned earlier, briefly, in Judges 3: 31.)

Judges 5: 7-9, A mother of Israel goes to war

"Village life in Israel ceased,

 ceased until I, Deborah, arose, 

arose a mother in Israel.

When they chose new gods,

 war came to the city gates, 

and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

My heart is with Israel's princes, 

with the willing volunteers among the people. 

Praise the LORD!

As the enemy takes over Israel, Israel's villages become quiet.  But then a mother takes a stand with Israel's princes.

Judges 5: 10-12, Wake up and sing!

"You who ride on white donkeys, 

sitting on your saddle blankets, 

and you who walk along the road, 

consider the voice of the singers at the watering places. 

They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, 

the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel. 

"Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates.

`Wake up, wake up, Deborah! 

Wake up, wake up, break out in song! 

Arise, O Barak! 

Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'

Both the rich who comfortably ride, seated on soft blankets on white donkeys, and the poor ,who walk along the road, both rich and poor, everyone is to rejoice and sing! The people congregate at the city gates to rejoice, shout and sing.

Judges 5: 13-15a, Tribes rise up

"Then the men who were left came down to the nobles;

 the people of the LORD came to me with the mighty.

Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; 

Benjamin was with the people who followed you. 

From Makir captains came down, 

from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff.

The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; 

yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. 

Volunteers from numerous tribes joined Deborah and Barak. These tribes include Ephraim, Benjamin, Mannaseh, Zebulun and Issachar. (Makir is another name for Manasseh; Makir was Manasseh's son.)

Judges 5: 15b-18, Various clans react

In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.

Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? 

In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.

Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. 

And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? 

Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.

The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; 

so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.

Not everyone volunteers to fight. The people of Reuben have mixed reactions to the call to war. The people of Gilead (most likely Manasseh) east of the Jordan stay at home. Dan and Asher also stay at home. 

But Zebulun and Naphtali, already led by Deborah and Barak, are in the center of the fight.

Judges 5: 19-22, Sisera is swept away

"Kings came, they fought; 

the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, 

but they carried off no silver, no plunder.

From the heavens the stars fought, 

from their courses they fought against Sisera.

The river Kishon swept them away, 

the age-old river, the river Kishon. 

March on, my soul; be strong!

Then thundered the horses' hoofs-- 

galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.

Even the stars fight on YHWH's side, says Deborah. The river Kishon, running across the Jezreel valley, sweeps away Sisera's men.

Judges 5: 23-27, Curse Meroz, bless Jael

`Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 

`Curse its people bitterly, 

because they did not come to help the LORD, 

to help the LORD against the mighty.'

"Most blessed of women be Jael, 

the wife of Heber the Kenite, 

most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

He asked for water, 

and she gave him milk; 

in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.

Her hand reached for the tent peg, 

her right hand for the workman's hammer. 

She struck Sisera, 

she crushed his head, 

she shattered and pierced his temple.

At her feet he sank, 

he fell; 

there he lay. 

At her feet he sank, 

he fell; 

where he sank, 

there he fell--

dead.

Jael's killing is described in song.  There are two women of valor in this story and Jael is praised as "most blessed." We note that Jael, used by YHWH to bring victory, is a Kenite, not an Israelite.

Little is known of Meroz. Possibly this was a clan of Israel that refused to battle Sisera. 

A poetic repetition ("sank ... fell ... lay ... sank ... fell ... sank ... fell ... dead!") ends this account of Sisera's death.

Judges 5: 28-30, Sisera's mother waits

"Through the window peered Sisera's mother; 

behind the lattice she cried out, 

`Why is his chariot so long in coming? 

Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?'

The wisest of her ladies answer her; 

indeed, she keeps saying to herself,

`Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: 

a girl or two for each man, 

colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, 

colorful garments embroidered, 

highly embroidered garments for my neck--

 all this as plunder?'

There is no happiness for the supporters of Sisera. Sisera's mother is pictured as peering through a window lattice, waiting for her son. Less we have any sympathy for Sisera's mother, longing for a son who will not come home, we are reminded that had Sisera been victorious, there would have been many Jewish mothers waiting for sons that did not return.

The expected plunders of Sisera include "a girl of two for each man". This callous description of girls as spoils of war includes an interesting Hebrew word for girl: racham. This word is sometimes used to indicate strong emotion, lovingkindness, or mercy but has the same root as rechem, which is literally "womb". Commentators Wolf and Webb suggest that the sexual nature of womb is indeed intended here -- Sisera's plunder would include "a womb or two for each man". We are to have no sympathy for Sisera!

As we saw in Deuteronomy, colorfully dyed garments were very precious and valuable.  They too would be spoils of war and the lady-in-waiting imagines a precious embroidered garment around her neck. 

Judges 5: 31, YHWH rules in Israel

"So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! 

But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." 

Then the land had peace forty years.

Deborah, like Jewish women before her (eg. Miriam) praises God in song.  The song ends with a brief summary of peace for a generation.

Judges 4, Deborah and Jael

After Othniel, Ehud and Shamgar, we now hear of a fourth judge, a woman, Deborah.

Judges 4: 1-3, Jabin of Hazor

After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help.

The early Iron Age impinges on Israel.  After twenty years of oppression, the Israelites cry out.

Judges 4: 4-7, Deborah

Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: `Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'"

The woman Deborah is a well-known judge in central Israel.  She holds court under a palm tree apparently named after her.  Already recognized as a leader of the nation, she has a plan for Barak, from the northern tribe of Naphtali (upper Galilee.) He is to raise an army from Naphtali and neighboring Zebulun.

Judges 4: 8-10, Barak is timid

Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

"Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." 

So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

Deborah has to convince timid Barak. He will only go to war if she joins him.  Deborah agrees but warns him that the honor of victory will then go to woman! The reader assumes that the female hero will be Deborah, but a second woman will step up to finish Sisera!

Judges 4: 11-13, Sisera gathers his chariots

Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.

(NIV footnotes: Hobab could be Moses' father-in-law.) The Kenites are friendly with the people of Hazor. As it turns out, Heber not so much.

Once again, in this dry land, a "great tree" is a landmark. 

Kedesh is in Naphtali. (Kedesh is now a tell, an ancient mound and archeological site, Tel Kedesh. It is not far from another tell, Tel Hazor.) Mount Tabor is south of Kedesh. The Kishon River lies south and west of Mount Tabor, maybe 20 miles.

Judges 4: 14-16, "Barak, go!"

Then Deborah said to Barak, "Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men.

At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.

Sisera is bringing his feared iron chariots! But YHWH is on Barak's side and so the army of Naphtali-Zebulun is successful and routs the army of Sisera. This passage gives little information about the rout, but the song of Deborah in the next chapter will described the flooded Kishon River sweeping the enemies away.

Although the enemy army has been routed, its general, Sisera, is still at large.

Judges 4: 17-20, The tent of Jael

Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him.

"I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.

"Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, `Is anyone here?' say `No.'"

Sisera seeks refuge in the tent of a Kenite.  But Heber is not a friend.  And there is another woman around....

Judges 4: 21, A tent peg and a hammer

But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Jael takes advantage of Sisera's fatigue to brutally kill him.  Two women, Deborah and Jael, bring down this powerful man.

Judges 4: 22-24, Barak shown the body of Sisera

Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple--dead.

On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.

Jael shows Barak the body of Sisera.  All of this has God's blessing in the background. The judge, Deborah, has, with support from YHWH, again freed the people of Israel.

Judges 3, A Lefthanded Assassin

We begin the stories of the first judges. We have already met one of them.

Judges 3: 1-7, Nations left as a test

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

Do we have a different explanation for the troubles to come?  Here, these people are left as a test, as a preparation for warfare. And one result will be that the Israelites adopt the alien culture, including their gods and idols.

Judges 3: 8-11, Cushan-Rishathaim and Othniel

The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim,  to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them.

The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

This Othniel, younger brother of Caleb, is the same as the one who married Caleb's daughter Acsah.  Othniel is our first judge and first hero, appearing after one cycle of idolatry, oppression and repentance.

Judges 3: 12-14, Eglon

Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.

The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

After the death of Othniel, the king of Moab forms a coalition that defeats Israel. (The City of Palms is probably the ruins of Jericho.)

Judges 3: 15-17, A deliverer rises

Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer--Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

Ehud's campaign begins with a gift. As a sign of submission, the Israelites have been paying tribute to Eglon. Here Ehud is the one to deliver the tribute.

Judges 3: 18-23, Left-handed tribute

After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." 

Ehud delivers the tribute (a sign of submission) and leaves. But then he returns with a message. It is possible that the "secret message" is viewed as a prophetic statement from the gods and so Eglon is interested in hearing this message. The previous submissive gift assures Eglon that these Israelites continue to be passive.

Judges 3: 18-23, Left-handed tribute

The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him.

Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.

Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

Ehud has made friends with Eglon and returns to give Eglon a "secret message." This message is a quick lefthanded stab with a hidden sword. We are given a vivid account of the murder of the obese king; the sword, a cubit in length, goes so deeply into the king's stomach that the fat closes over it!  (This is one of numerous descriptive PG-13 scenes in Judges -- R-rated scenes if shown on film!)

Judges 3: 24-26, Locked!

After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.

Ehud's deception allowed him to have time to get away.  The king's servants don't want to "embarrass" the king while he is supposedly on the toilet and so they wait for a time.  Meanwhile, the assassin has escaped.

Judges 3: 27-30, Rise up

When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them. "Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." 

So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped.

That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Eglon does not stop at killing the tyrant. He then raises an army and throws off the Moabites, the followers of the slain Eglon. Once again, after this second cycle of idolatry, oppression, repentance, we have peace in Israel.

Judges 3: 31, Shamgar

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

A brief sentence tells us of Shamgar. We hear little of him but he is significant enough to be mentioned again in the next few chapters.

We have really been told of three judges, Othniel, Ehud and Shamgar.  The vivid (and violent) story goes to the left-hander, Ehud.

The Problem of Large Numbers in the Old Testament

The population of Israel at the Exodus was about 600,000 men (say most Bible translations), giving a total population in the several millions, as large as a modern city such as Houston.  (See Exodus 12: 37-38.) If true, this makes Israel one of the largest nations at the time, close (say archaeologists) to the total population of Egypt at the time (eg. this article on ancient Egypt) and larger than the entire population of Canaan. Yet in numerous places the wandering nation of Israel is described as "small", much smaller than those around them. (See Deuteronomy 9:1 where YHWH explains that the Israelites will dispossess larger nations and Deuteronomy 7:1 where seven Canaanite nations are described, each larger than Israel.) This argument about the "smallness" of Israel is part of YHWH's explanation that the Israelites will only be victorious only if He goes before them.

How are we to interpret these population claims? 

There are numerous places in the Old Testament where English translations give us unusually large numbers.  At times an extremely large number of people are reported killed in a battle.  For example, according to Judges 12: 6, forty two thousand Ephraimites are killed in a dispute between Jepthah of Gilead and the tribe of Benjamin. If the NIV translation of the text is accurate then not only is this fight a massive battle larger than any in the American Civil War, but the Ephraimite dead exceed the total population of that tribe as given a generation or two previously in Numbers 26: 37. Similar examples abound in this book of Judges and also appear in subsequent Old Testament histories such as the book of Samuel or Kings.  In the book of Esther there are similar large numbers; in Esther 9: 16, the captive Jews are reported to kill 75,000 Babylonians.

Eleph

There are a variety of proposals on how one interpret these issues.  I outline some of these proposals here, restricting myself to suggestions by those who hold a high view of scripture, that is, viewing Scripture as inspired by God.  To those who view scripture in this way, the "problem of large numbers" is one of interpretation and translation. One major case revolves around the translation of the Hebrew word eleph.  As mentioned previously, this word is usually translated "thousand" but can also be translated "clan" or "military unit".  It is translated "head of a family member" in Joshua 22:14, for example and translated "clan" in Gideon's statement in Judges 6: 15. In neither place does the translation "thousand" make sense. (As a mathematician, I certainly react to translating Gideon's statement as "my thousand is smaller than all the other thousands"!) 

We are asking questions about ancient writings accumulated across almost one thousand years. The ancient language of Hebrew, like all languages, changed and evolved over time. We should be cautious in our attempts to use seventh or eighth century BC documents to translate a Hebrew word (such as eleph) that appears in a twelfth or thirteenth century BC document. This is always a difficulty for translators, including those who gave us the New International Version.

Hyperbole

There are also significant cultural issues involved in translation. One cultural issue involves the appropriate use of hyperbole.  In I Chronicles 12: 8, we have this account of Gadite warriors in David's army:

"They were brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces were the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles in the mountains."

Most of us would recognize the hyperbole in "faces of lions" and "swift as gazelles". Does this hyperbole continue further down the page when, in I Chronicles 12: 14, these same warriors were described as 

"...the least was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand,"

And later in the same chapter, in the statements about the power of David's army, we see in I Chronicles 12: 33, that the portion from the single tribe of Zebulun were

"...experienced soldiers prepared for battle with every type of weapon, 

to help David with undivided loyalty—50,000;"

If we recognize hyperbole in the earlier descriptions, is it possible that this same hyperbole occurs with the numbers of soldiers in the second half of that chapter? Some commentators argue that this type of numerical hyperbole was common throughout the ancient Near East and that numbers had a different role in that culture than they might in our culture.

In our culture, with a modern emphasis on science and mathematics, we rarely use numbers in hyperbolic form.  We might use "million" to mean "a lot", but if we write out a more specific number, then the specificity of the number removes our acceptance of hyperbole.  I am not sure of the ANE culture's view of numbers, but hyperbole in war reports was common.

Fouts

A number of experts have weighed in on this.  Scott McKnight, in "War language as hyperbole", in Christianity Today, describes the hyperbolic language common to the ancient Near East.  This article at GotQuestions.org describes four possible approaches to the population during the Exodus. David Fouts, first a Th.D. student at Dallas Theological Seminary in 1992 and then an associate professor at Bryan College, wrote a thesis on The Use of Large Numbers in the Old Testament and then published an article on this issue. (The thesis is here and the article is here. Both links take one to pdf files.) Since Dallas Theological Seminary  in Dallas, is a well-known evangelical seminary (and I have good friends who got degrees there), I will summarize some of Fouts's argument.

Among several arguments Fouts emphasizes the common occurrence of hyperbolic language. In regards to the population of Israel in Egypt, Fouts points to numerous places where the text assumes that the nation is relatively small. Besides the statements above where the other nations are described as much larger, it appears that at the beginning of Exodus there are only two midwives for the nation. Later Moses is able to communicate to the people as a whole and, until his father-in-law Jethro intervenes, Moses seems to be the single judge of disputes. Fouts also lists some examples in the book of Numbers and then looks at the passage in I Kings 20: 29-30 where

"... The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot 

soldiers in one day. The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, 

where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them..."

Fouts describes this as classic ANE hyperbole, typical of a victory report and argues that 100,000 casualties is not realistic, nor is it possible for a wall collapse to kill 27,000.

I found the article by Fouts to be enlightening and recommend it.  It is ten pages.

Rabbit holes

An old article by J. W. Wenham, Large Numbers in the Old Testament, describes places where various Old Testament manuscripts drop or add a digit, or have other glosses, small glosses caused by many centuries of translation.

With the various sources cited, I am sure I have provided enough rabbit holes for readers to investigate, should the "problem" of large numbers be of interest.  Feel free to ask questions or react further in the comments!  

I know that this Old Testament blog has a million avid readers!!  ;-)

Judges 2, The Rise of Judges

We continue to follow up on the early days of the conquest of Canaan.

Judges 2: 1-5, Sin and anger

The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' 

Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.

The sins of the people are linked to the persistence of pagan natives remaining in the land. The incomplete conquest leads to the Israelites assimilating the local idolatry, which initiates a cycle of idolatry and renewal that defines the book of Judges.

The name Bokim means "the weepers"; the town is named after the reaction of the people.

Judges 2: 6-9, Death of Joshua

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

This repeats a summary of the conquest given at the end of Joshua. The age of Joshua at death, 110, is ten less years than the age given for Moses.

Judges 2:10-15, Serving Baal

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Follow YHWH, slowly fall away, serve the local Baals, experience defeat, repent.  Repeat.

A generation of people have grown up who "did not know YHWH" -- this echoes Exodus 1: 8, when a new king arose who "did not know Joseph".

Judges 2:16-18, Idolatry and judges

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands.

The ruling of the tribes will now fall on various judges, of differing quality.  This will be the story of this book; this paragraph summarizes the cycles of idolatry/defeat and renewal/victory that follow.

Judges 2: 18-19, The judges will give justice, but only temporarily

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

The judges give justice, die, and the people return to sin and the idols of the Baals. We will read of a series of judges, in a depressingly downward spiral. 

Judges 2: 20-23, The other nations as a test

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.

I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did." The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

This chapter summarizes the time of the judges and repeats some of the earlier information, such as the death of Joshua.

After this summary chapter on the judges, we meet the first judges, Othniel and Ehud, in the next chapter.

Judges 1, An Incomplete Conquest

Israel has conquered the land under Joshua's leadership.  Now Joshua has died.

Judges 1: 1-7, Tribes of Judah and Simeon fight the Canaanites

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"

    

The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."

    

Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.

When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 

Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The tribes of Judah and Simeon attack the Canaanites and Perizzites at a place called Bezek.  There they capture Adoni-Bezek.

It is not clear how the Israelites got such a precise answer from their question of YHWH.  Was it verbal? Or a lottery choice among 12 images?

The book records Adoni-Bezek's confession of justice.

Judges 1: 8, Destruction of Jerusalem

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

Jerusalem now belongs to the tribe of Judah.  This city will need to be conquered several times, finally by David several centuries later. At the time of the conquest of Canaan, Jerusalem is given to the tribe of Benjamin (see Joshua 18: 21-28) and was on the border of the possessions of Benjamin and Judah. Here the tribe of Judah is reported as completing the conquest of the city. 

Judges 1: 9-11, Driving out Canaanites

After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

The nation continues to try to drive out (or assimilate) the other people groups living there.

Judges 1: 12-13, Offering Caleb's daughter

And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

Othniel is identified as Caleb's younger brother. (Commentaries say that the Hebrew allows other interpretations of the relationship but "brother" of Caleb is the most likely.)  Like Caleb, Othniel is a hero in the early days of Israel.  Here he wins Caleb's daughter.  My reaction to this "win" is a mixture of admiration, from the fairy tale trope of the king offering his daughter's hand in marriage, to horror that a daughter is viewed as a prize to give away. 

So Acsah is given to her nephew, Othniel. This repeats an account appearing in Joshua 15: 13-19. 

Judges 1: 14-15, Caleb's daughter acquires a field.

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." 

Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

There is apparently a conflict here between some ancient manuscripts: does Acsah urge Othniel to ask her father for a field? Or does Othniel urge Acsah to make the request?  The NIV apparently follows most ancient manuscripts in reporting that Acsah initiated this request for land, with Othniel following her lead. Do other manuscripts "sanitize" the assertiveness of Acsah?

Judges 1: 16-18, Conquests of Judah

The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad. Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah. 

The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron--each city with its territory.

Here are more recordings of conquests, following the traditions of the book of Joshua. The Kenites are Midianites, not Hebrews, but here they cooperate with the people of Judah. (A Midianite woman, Jael, will play an important role in Judges 5.)

(NIV Footnotes: The City of Palms is Jericho. Hormah, in verse 17, means "destruction."

In verse 18, the NIV is following ancient Hebrew manuscripts; the Septuagint  apparently says that Judah did not take Gaza.)

Judges 1: 19, YHWH with Judah

The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.

If YHWH is on your side, you are good. But the people of Judah apparently feared the new technology, the iron chariots. (We are in the early Iron Age.)

Judges 1: 21-22, Success and failure

As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.

The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

We have a first mention of failure.  It is at Jerusalem.  (The Jebusites stay in that region despite the sacking of that town described earlier?)

Judges 1: 22-25, Bethel sacked

Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well."

So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family.  He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

We get an explanation of the founding of Luz, separate from Bethel. (See Jacob's naming of that place in Genesis 28: 11-19.) The capture of Bethel involves recruiting a resident to show them the way into the city.

Judges 1: 27-36, Failures

But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely.

Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor.

Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land.

Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them.

The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

Despite the claims in Joshua that these various tribes were "totally destroyed" or "completely devoted over to God", the Amorites and various tribes persist in the land.  The conquest of Canaan has only been partial.

From Wikipedia comes this map of the presumed possessions of Israel at the start of the time of the Judges.

The rest of this book will deal with issues raised by an incomplete conquest.