Judges 8:22-28

Gideon refuses the kingship: he sets up an ephod: conclusion

22 .the men of Israel Not the 300 of Judges 8:4, but the men who formed the army Judges 7:14; Judges 9:55, the Israelites drawn from Ephraim, Manasseh, and the neighbouring tribes Judges 7:23. Thus Judges 8:22 are probably not the sequel of Judges 7:4-21, nor of Judges 7:1-3, for the Ephraimites shewed anything but a disposition to make Gideon king; so these verses appear to come from a source secondary to the two main documents (see p. 69). The offer of the kingship shews that Gideon's exploit was more than the avenging of a private wrong (Judges 7:4-21); he had saved his countrymen; as king it would be his duty to save them still.