Judges 8, The Rule of Gideon

Gideon and his small army have defeated their Midianite oppressors. The timid Gideon has now become a mighty leader (under YHWH's direction) and is recognized as a mighty warrior.

Judges 8: 1-3, Gideon verbally attacked

Now 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.

But 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? God 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.

The Ephraimites accuse Gideon of not inviting them to the original fight. Gideon responds by pointing out their involvement at the end and arguing that YHWH gave the Midianite kings to them. The Ephraimite leaders are mollified.

This represents the high point of Gideon's reign as leader and "judge." Now that he is a mighty warrior, his story begins to go downhill. Commentator Barry Webb points out that, from here on, there is no indication that Gideon seeks the guidance of YHWH or His messenger.

Judges 8: 4-9, Request denied

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

But 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?"

Then 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."

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

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

Gideon has defeated the Midianites.  Yet he pursues a possibly small band, led by two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna.  Gideon and his men, exhausted and hungry, cross the Jordan and, east of that river, they ask for help from the men of Succoth and Peniel. (The Hebrews east of the Jordan tend to be left out in the politics of Israel, see the earlier episode Joshua 20: 10-12.)  Unwisely, these people refuse to help the army of Gideon.

Judges 8: 10-12, Zebah and Zalmunna

Now 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.

Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

There is a smaller group of Midianites that must be defeated.  The numbers given include 120 thousand fallen swordsmen. The Hebrew word eleph is, again, the word that is being translated "thousand". The smaller group may not have expected Gideon to cross the Jordan.

Judges 8: 13-17, Retribution in Piniel

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

Then 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?'"

He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.

Gideon returns to Peniel and gets revenge against this transjordan town. He captures and interrogates a young man of the town and punished and kills various leaders. This is the first indication of violence against fellow Hebrews.

Judges 8: 18-21, Execution of Zebah and Zalmunna

Then 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."

Gideon 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." Turning 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.

Zebah 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.

Apparently Gideon has lost biological brothers in an earlier conflict at Tabor. We have not heard of this event before -- there has presumably been fighting around Mount Tabor since the time of Sisera and Deborah.  

Because these men killed his brothers, Gideon plans to execute the two kings. It is not clear if the earlier deaths were part of war or were simple murders. The Old Testament Law treats murder as different from killing during warfare and it is not clear if Gideon has the right to execute these two kings.  The comments by the kings, that they killed ones "with the bearing of a prince" may be taunts (says Webb) -- these were "good" kills of strong warriors.

Gideon then asks his oldest son to kill the kings but the son is afraid.  So, after being taunted by the two rulers, Gideon kills them himself.  The taunt of the kings includes a proverb that suggests Gideon has cowardly passed on the ugly deed to others.

Webb points out some undercurrents to this story. Gideon is becoming more violent, more sure of himself, and we see how his violence conflicts with the attitude of his son. We also see a mention of his brothers as "princes."  Is Gideon about to become king? Is Israel about to institute royalty and monarchies?

Judges 8: 22-26, "Rule over us"

The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us--you, your son and your grandson--because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."

But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." And 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.)

They 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. The 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.

The might warrior, Gideon, is now invited to be king.  A king, as opposed to a judge, would begin a dynasty, with sons and grandsons continuing the rule.  Gideon refuses to be the ruler of Israel and, this time, mentions the name of YHWH.  But he also asks for gold from the people.

Judges 8: 27-28, A golden ephod to worship

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

Gideon uses the donated gold to create an "ephod", an object in the shape of sleeveless vest.  It is not clear what Gideon intends with this statue -- it is possible it is a memorial of some type and intended, by him, as part of his worship of YHWH.  But this golden object becomes an idol,  a "snare" to the people of Ophrah.  Gideon, called Jerub-Baal, "contender with Baal", began his reign by tearing down the idols in Ophrah and now ends his reign by creating a substitute. Despite the idolatry, it is reported that the land has peace.

Judges 8: 29-32, Many sons and long life

Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.

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

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

Gideon has many wives and at least one concubine (at nearby Shechem.) He has many sons. These are all the markings of a powerful man, one who might be viewed as a king. Indeed, the mistress in Shechem names her son Abimelech, which means "my father is king." This "son of a king" will have an important role in the next chapter.

Judges 8: 33-35, Gideon's legacy

No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

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

After Gideon's death, the Israelites again pivot to the Baals, ignoring Gideon's work and misled by his golden vest. Gideon's legacy is a sad one and his son, Abimelech, will make it much worse.