1And Jerubaal, that is, Gideon, rose early, and all the troops that were with him, and they camped by Ein Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of Gibeath Hamoreh in the valley. 2And the LORD said to Gideon, “The troops that are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hand, lest Israel boast to Me saying, ‘My own hand made me victorious.’ 3And, now, call out, pray, in the hearing of the troops, saying: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him turn round from Mount Gilead.’” And twenty-two thousand turned back from the troops, and ten thousand remained. 4And the LORD said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many. Bring them down to the water and I shall sift them out for you there. And so, of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you, and all of whom I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5And he brought the troops down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Whoever laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, set him apart, and whoever kneels on his knees to drink, set him apart.” 6And the number of those lapping from their hand to their mouth came to three hundred men. And all the rest of the troops kneeled on their knees to drink water. 7And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I shall make you victorious and give Midian into your hand, and let all the other troops go each to his place. 8And they took the provisions of the troops in their hand as well as their ram’s horns, and he sent off all the men of Israel each to his tent, and he held onto the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 9And it happened on that night that the LORD said to him, “Arise. Go down into the camp, for I have given it into your hand. 10And if you are afraid to go down, go down both you and Purah your lad. 11And you shall listen to what they say, and then your hands will be strengthened and you shall go down into the camp.” And he went down, and Purah his lad with him, to the edge of the armed men who were in the camp. 12And Midian and Amalek and all the Easterners lay along the valley, like locusts in multitude, and their camels were beyond numbering, like the sand that is on the shore of the sea in multitude. 13And Gideon came, and, look, a man was recounting a dream to his fellow, and he said, “Look, I dreamed a dream, and, look, a loaf of barley bread was rolling over through the camp of Midian and came up to the tent and struck it and overturned it and the tent fell.” 14And his fellow answered and said, “That could only be the sword of Gideon son of Joash man of Israel. God has given into his hand Midian and all its camp.” 15And it happened, when Gideon heard the recounting of the dream and its explanation, that he bowed down and went back to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given into your hand the camp of Midian.” 16And he split the three hundred men into three columns and put ram’s horns in everyone’s hand and empty pitchers with torches inside the pitchers. 17And he said to them, “Look to me and do the same, and just when I come to the edge of the camp, so as I do, do the same. 18And when I blast on the ram’s horn, and all those by me, you too shall blast on the ram’s horns all round the camp and say, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’” 19And Gideon came, and the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp, at the beginning of the middle watch—they had just then posted the watchmen—and they blasted on the ram’s horns and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. 20And the three columns blasted on the ram’s horns and broke the pitchers and held the torches with their left hand, and their right hand the ram’s horns to blast on, and called out: “Sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21And each one stood in his place all round the camp. And all the camp ran off and shouted and fled. 22And they blasted on the three hundred ram’s horns and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow throughout the camp, and the camp fled to Beth-Shittah, toward Sererah, to the banks of the Meholah brook by Tabbath. 23And the men of Israel rallied, from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian. 24And Gideon sent messengers throughout the high country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian and take from them the water sources, as far as Beth-Barah, and the Jordan.” And all the men of Ephraim rallied and took the water sources as far as Beth-Barah, and the Jordan. 25And they took the two Midianite commanders, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the Rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed in the Winepress of Zeeb, and they pursued Midian. And the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they brought to Gideon from across the Jordan.
CHAPTER 7 NOTES
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2. The troops that are with you are too many. One suspects that behind this tale of a test that eliminates the vast majority of the fighting men there may lie a historical memory of a small group of guerillas that defeated numerically superior Midianite forces in a surprise attack.
3. turn round. The verb ts-p-r is unusual and the meaning uncertain, but there is a noun derived from this root that suggests going around.
5. Whoever laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps. The point of the first of the two winnowing procedures—sending home whoever is afraid—is self-evident. This second elimination procedure is at first blush peculiar because similarity to a dog—in general a reviled animal in the biblical world—might not appear to be a recommendation for a good soldier. The lapping of the water, as the next verse clarifies, is not done by putting face to water source but rather by scooping up water in one’s palm and then lapping it. The fighters who drink in this way remain alert and ready for combat even as they drink, unlike those who kneel to drink. Perhaps the feral and dangerous connotations of “dog” in Hebrew usage are also invoked here.
8. of the troops. The troops in question would have to be those who were sent back, leaving their provisions and ram’s horns (which in this context serve as battle horns) behind.
10. if you are afraid to go down. God has already experienced Gideon’s hesitancy in the two miraculous signs Gideon asked of Him.
your lad. The all-purpose noun na‘ar in this context clearly indicates a function like “attendant” or even “armor bearer.”
12. like locusts in multitude . . . beyond numbering, like the sand that is on the shore of the sea. This repetition of the vastness of the Midianite forces is an obvious counterpoint to the bare three hundred men whom Gideon now leads. The Hebrew writer evinces a special fascination with the numerous camels, the unfamiliar mounts of the Midianite marauders.
13. loaf. The meaning of the Hebrew tselil is disputed. Some interpreters link it to the root ts-l-l, which means to make a ringing noise and thus understand it to have a sense like “commotion” or “noise.” Rolling noise, however, is a problematic notion. Many medieval Hebrew commentators derive it, plausibly, from tseli, “roast,” construing it as a term for a round flat loaf baked over coals, which in fact is how Bedouins to this day make their pittah. It remains a puzzle as to why bread, and specifically barley bread, is the instrument of destruction in the dream, other than its being totally unexpected in this function, like Gideon’s strategy with the horns and the torches. It might be linked with the first image of Gideon threshing grain.
15. he bowed down. This may be a gesture of obeisance to God, Who, as he now confidently knows, is about to make him triumph.
16. he split the three hundred men into three columns. This move makes it possible for Gideon’s men to come down on the Midianite from three sides. Perhaps four sides would have been even more strategically effective, but that consideration is trumped by the numerical neatness of three hundred divided by three.
17. Look to me and do the same. In the Hebrew, the force of this command is underscored by a rhyme: mimeni tirʾu wekhein taʿasu.
18. and all those by me. These would be the one hundred men in the column headed by Gideon, as we see in the next verse.
For the LORD and for Gideon. Some Hebrew manuscripts and two ancient versions show “sword for the LORD,” as in verse 20.
19. at the beginning of the middle watch. The night was divided into three watches (which here neatly correspond to the tripartite division of Gideon’s fighters), so this would be sometime approaching midnight, when the Midianite troops were deep in slumber.
they had just then posted the watchmen. Either they have not yet settled into their positions of observation or they are not yet fully alert because they have just been wakened to take up their watch.
20. held the torches with their left hand, and their right hand the ram’s horns. Presumably, their swords remained strapped to their sides as they rely entirely on the effect of panic caused by the sudden blaring sound and the torchlight.
21. each one stood in his place. These are the horn-blowing, torch-wielding Israelites.
22. the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow. In other accounts of Israelite victories, we are told that the LORD “panicked” the enemy. Only here do we get the mechanism of the panic, which in fact is a stratagem devised by Gideon to terrorize the sleeping army.
brook. Though most translations treat ʾavel as a proper noun (“Abel”), it means “brook,” being an alternate form of the more common yuval. Representing it as “brook” clarifies the meaning of “banks” (the Hebrew sefat is a singular noun).
24. Gideon sent messengers. Having routed the large Midianite army with only three hundred men, he now rallies behind him a much larger force to pursue the fleeing enemy.
took the water sources. In the first instance, they take hold of brooks to the west of the Jordan, where they can readily cut down the Midianites seeking to ford the streams, and then they take hold of the fords of the Jordan itself. The prominence of bodies of water in the destruction of the Midianites loops back to the test of how the Israelite fighters drink water from a stream.
25. Oreb and Zeeb. The two names mean, respectively, “raven” and “wolf.” Animal names were common among the Northwest Semites, including the Israelites.
they brought to Gideon from across the Jordan. The fleeing Midianite commanders are overtaken and killed east of the Jordan, having eluded the Israelite forces holding the fords. Gideon himself is still on the west side of the Jordan. He will cross it in the next episode in pursuit of the enemy.