Judges 7:16

_AND HE DIVIDED THE THREE HUNDRED MEN INTO THREE COMPANIES, AND HE PUT A TRUMPET IN EVERY MAN'S HAND, WITH EMPTY PITCHERS, AND LAMPS WITHIN THE PITCHERS._ He divided the three hundred men. The object of dividing his forces was, that they might seem to be surrounding the enemy. HE PUT A TRUMPET IN EVERY MAN'S HAND, WITH EMPTY PITCHERS, AND LAMPS WITHIN THE PITCHERS. The law prescribed to the Israelites the employment of trumpets in battle with their enemies; and the Lord, on the blast of them, remembered His people (Numbers 10:9). Gideon, therefore, provided them, as of indispensable importance, apart from his strategic device. The pitchers were empty, to conceal the torches, and made of earthenware, so as to be easily broken. "Lamps" х_ LAPIDIYM_ (H3940)] - rendered in our version sometimes "firebrands," and at o

16-22 This method of defeating the Midianites may be alluded to, as exemplifying the destruction of the devil's kingdom in the world, by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the sounding that trumpet, and the holding forth that light out of earthen vessels, for such are the ministers of the gospel, 2 Corinthians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 4:7. God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, a barley-cake to overthrow the tents of Midian, that the excellency of the power might be of God only. The gospel is a sword, not in the hand, but in the mouth: the sword of the Lord and of Gideon; of God and Jesus Christ, of Him that sits on the throne and the Lamb. The wicked are often led to avenge the cause of God upon each other, under the power of their delusions, and the fury of their passion...

Verse Judges 7:16. _HE DIVIDED THE THREE HUNDRED MEN_] Though the victory was to be from the Lord, yet he knew that he ought to use prudential means; and those which he employed on this occasion were the best calculated to answer the end. If he had not used these means, it is not likely that God would have delivered the Midianites into his hands. Sometimes, even in working a miracle, God will have natural means used: _Go, dip thyself seven times in_ _Jordan. Go, wash in the pool Siloam_....

Gideon himself took the command of one company, and sent the other two under their respective captains to different sides of the camp Judges 7:18, Judges 7:21....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 7:9 GET THEE DOWN, etc; _i.e_. attack the camp at once with thy 300 men. But if thou art afraid to do so, go down first alone with Phurah thy servant, and hear what they are saying in the camp. JUDGES 7:11 THE ARMED MEN. The exact meaning of the word here rendered _armed men _(_chamushim_),_ _and which occurs Exodus 13:18; Joshua 1:14; Joshua 4:12, is a little uncertain, but it is generally thought to be synonymous with another

AND HE DIVIDED THE THREE HUNDRED MEN INTO THREE COMPANIES,.... One hundred in a company, partly to make the better figure, a show of an army, with a right and left wing, and partly that they might fall upon the camp of Midian in different parts: AND HE PUT A TRUMPET IN EVERY MAN'S HAND; they that returned of the trumpeters having left their trumpets behind them, whereby there was a sufficient number for three hundred men; and these were put into their hands, that when they blew them together, the, noise would be very great; and it would seem as if they were an exceeding great army, and so very much terrify their enemies: WITH EMPTY PITCHERS, AND LAMPS WITH THE PITCHERS; the pitchers were of earth, and so easily broken, and would make a great noise when clashed against each other; and these were empty of water, or otherwise would not have been fit to put lamps into, and the lamps put in...

CHAPTER 7 THE VICTORY OF GIDEON _ 1. The sifting of Gideon's army (Judges 7:1)_ 2. The dream of the Midianite (Judges 7:9) 3. Victory through weakness (Judges 7:16) Gideon “the cutter down,” now also called Jerubbaal “the contender with Baal,” after his faith had been strengthened, pitched his camp at the well of Harod (trembling). The Lord did not need the large army he had gathered, lest Israel would say: “Mine own hand hath saved me.” First 22,000 were let go. They were afraid. What an evidence of the sad conditions among the people. Jehovah had commanded through Moses this test. “And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint he

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...

LAMPS. torches, which smoulder till waved in the air....

_divided … into three companies_ Cf. Jdg 9:43 ff., 1 Samuel 11:11; 1 Samuel 13:17 f., Job 1:17 for similar tactics. Gideon had to make up by wit and daring what he lacked in numbers. _trumpets_ Hebr. _shôphâr_, the curved _horn_of a cow or ram, used to give signals in war (Judges 3:27; 2 Samuel 2:28, etc.); to be distinguished from the long metal _haṣôṣĕrâh_, the _trumpet_proper, which was used for religious purposes (2 Kings 12:13;...