Judges 7:16-25

The Night Alarm and Rout. Gideon's stratagem consisted in the division of his small force into three companies, who charged the enemy from three sides at once, making an uproar and producing a panic.

Judges 7:18. The battle-cry agreed upon was For Yahweh and for Gideon! When the actual conflict began, many or all prefixed to this A sword, suggested by the gleaming weapons they had unsheathed. The words express with splendid terseness a double loyalty, to God and a trusted leader; an ideal, Yahweh's victory and glory; and a means of attaining it, the sword.

Judges 7:20. If each soldier carried a trumpet, a torch, an empty pitcher, and a sword, his hands were too full. There are awkward repetitions in the narrative (see Judges 7:20 and Judges 7:22), and it is possible that the trumpets are derived from one source, the jars and torches from another.

Judges 7:23. It is strange to see how the men who had no heart for the attack are ready to join in the pursuit. Some think that the verse is a later addition.

Judges 7:24. The words even Jordan (twice) seem meaningless. Perhaps we should read with the Peshitto as far as Bethbara upon (the bank of) Jordan.