Judges 7:25

23-25 Two chief commanders of the host of Midian were taken and slain by the men of Ephraim. It were to be wished that we all did as these did, and that where help is needed, that it were willingly and readily performed by another. And that if there were any excellent and profitable matter begun, we were willing to have fellow-labourers to the finishing and perfecting the same, and not, as often, hinder one another....

Verse Judges 7:25. _THEY SLEW OREB UPON THE ROCK OREB_] These two generals had taken shelter, one in the cavern of the rock, the other in the vat of a winepress; both of which places were from this circumstance, afterwards called by their names. _BROUGHT THE HEADS OF OREB AND ZEEB TO GIDEON_] OREB signifies a _raven_ and ZEEB a _wolf_. In all ancient nations we find generals and princes taking their names from both birds and beasts; the Romans had their _Gracchi_, jackdaws; _Corvini_, crows; _Aquilini_, eagles, c. We have the same in our _Crows, Wolfs, Lyons, Hawkes,_ _Bulls, Kidds_, c. Among barbarous nations the _head_ of the conquered chief was often brought to the conqueror. Pompey's head was brought to Caesar Cicero's head, to Mark Antony the heads of Ahab's children, to Jehu, c. These barbarities are not often pract

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 THEY TOOK TWO PRINCES OF THE MIDIANITES, OREB AND ZEEB,.... The one signifies a "raven", and the other a "wolf"; which were either nicknames given them because of their voraciousness and cruelty, or which they took themselves, or their ancestors before them, to make themselves terrible to others; so the Romans had the families of the Corvini, c. AND THEY SLEW OREB UPON THE ROCK OREB perhaps they found him in a cave of the rock, and dragging him out slew him, from whence the rock afterwards had its name. So we read of the rock Corax in Homer p, which was in Ithaca, and another high mountain of the same name in Aetolia, mentioned by Livy q and which signifies the same as Oreb. This is a different rock or mountain from Horeb, the same with Sinai, from whence the law was given; which always ought to be written with an "H" or "Ch", to distinguish it from this; though that is written Oreb...

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...

TWO PRINCES. Compare Psalms 83:11.Isaiah 10:26....

_The pursuit_ 23 _.out of Naphtali etc_.] The same tribes, with the addition of Zebulun, were summoned before the battle, Judges 6:35; they must have formed the bulk of the host dismissed in Judges 7:3. They returned to their homes; but now hearing of Midian's disaster, they assemble again, this time independently of Gideon, and pursue the enemy. Such must be the general sense intended by this verse, which, however, can hardly have belonged to the narrative originally....

THEY TOOK TWO PRINCES OF THE MIDIANITES— Two of their princes or generals, for the Hebrew word may signify either. Oreb, in the Hebrew, signifies _a crow,_ and Zeeb, a wolf. It was anciently the custom for great men to take the names of their families from the animal world. So we find the _Gracchi, Corvini,_ and _Aquilini,_ among the Romans; names, which were either used as fortunate omens, or as monuments of their courage and dexterity in military atchievements. The _rock_ and the vine-press, no doubt, had their names from these princes. Their heads were carried to Gideon, as was usually done in after times. Thus Pompey's head was brought to Caesar, and Cicero's to Mark Antony....

_Gideon's Victory Judges 7:24-25_ 24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan. 25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan. _15._ What were the waters of Beth-barah? Judges 7:24 The name Beth-barah is a compound of two Hebrew words, _beth_ and _barah,_ and it means house of the ford. Presumably, these fords were the outlets of the streams which ran down f