Judges 8:2

_AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHAT HAVE I DONE NOW IN COMPARISON OF YOU? IS NOT THE GLEANING OF THE GRAPES OF EPHRAIM BETTER THAN THE VINTAGE OF ABI-EZER?_ He said ... What have I done now in comparison of you? His mild and truly modest answer breathes the spirit of a great as well as good man, who was calm, collected, and self-possessed in the midst of most exciting scenes. It succeeded in throwing oil on the troubled waters (Proverbs 16:1); and no wonder, because in the height of generous self-denial it ascribes to his querulous brethren a greater share of merit and glory than belonged to himself (1 Corinthians 13:4; Philippians 2:3)....

1-3 Those who will not attempt or venture any thing in the cause of God, will be the most ready to censure and quarrel with such as are of a more zealous and enterprising spirit. And those who are the most backward to difficult services, will be the most angry not to have the credit of them. Gideon stands here as a great example of self-denial; and shows us that envy is best removed by humility. The Ephraimites had given vent to their passion in very wrong freedom of speech, a certain sign of a weak cause: reason runs low when chiding flies high....

Verse Judges 8:2. Is _NOT THE GLEANING, C._] That is, The Ephraimites have performed more important services than Gideon and his men and he supports the assertion by observing that it was they who took the two Midianitish generals, having discomfited their hosts at the passes of Jordan....

A civil war with the great tribe of Ephraim would soon have turned Israel’s victory into mourning. Gideon therefore soothes their wounded pride by confessing that Ephraim had done more, though they had joined him so late in the day, than he had been able to effect in the whole campaign. The grape-gleaning of Ephraim was better than the whole vintage of Abi-ezer....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 8:1 THE MEN OF EPHRAIM. It is possible that the transfer of the birthright from Manasseh to Ephraim (Genesis 48:13-1) may have produced some estrangement between the tribes. It is also possible that Ephraim, in view of their great tribal power, and the distinction conferred upon them by the judgeship of Joshua the son of Nun (Numbers 13:8), and the possession of his grave (Joshua 24:30), may have grown haughty and domineering, and perhaps more disposed to rest upon their former glories than to embark in fresh undertakings. Anyhow Gideon did not consult them, nor ask thei

AND HE SAID UNTO THEM,.... In a very mild and gentle manner, giving soft words, which turn away wrath: WHAT HAVE I DONE IN COMPARISON OF YOU? he and his men, he signifies, had only blew trumpets, broke pitchers, and held torches; it was the Lord that did all, and set the Midianites one against another to slay each other; and in the pursuit as yet he had only picked up and slain some common soldiers, they had taken two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and had brought their heads in triumph to him: IS NOT THE GLEANING OF THE GRAPES OF EPHRAIM BETTER THAN THE VINTAGE OF ABIEZER? the family of Abiezer, of which Gideon was; the meaning is, that whereas he began the fight, which may be called the vintage, and they had finished it, which was like gleaning; yet what they did last was much preferable to what was done by him at first; or the princes of Midian, which they had taken in the pursui...

CHAPTER 8 INTERNAL STRIFE, GIDEON'S FAILURE AND END _ 1. The strife (Judges 8:1)_ 2. The complete deliverance (Judges 8:10) 3. Gideon's failure and end (Judges 8:22) 4. Israel's failure after Gideon (Judges 8:33) Internal strife follows. The two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, were slain (Judges 7:25). Oreb means “raven” and Zeeb means “wolf.” Oreb, the raven, is slain on the rock and Zeeb, the wolf, at the winepress. The raven, the bird which represents darkness and evil, is the type of corruption; the wolf is the destroyer o

THE EPHRAIMITES APPEASED. After defeating the mighty foreign foe, Gideon had to settle a domestic dispute which might easily have become serious, and he again proved himself equal to the occasion. He is a man of wit and humour as well as of military prowess. He knows that a soft answer turns away wrath, and he can make the tongue as effective a weapon as the sword. He stoops to conquer. When the jealous Ephraimites complain that he has not given them the first place in his army (which would have entitled them to the best of the spoils), he returns a humble answer, in which they do not perceive any flavour of delicate irony. How should he ever compare his little clan with a mighty tribe? The mere gleanings of Ephraim are more than the vintage the whole harvest of Abiezer. We shall find later that while such treatment appeased the Ephraimites it did not cure them. Jephthah had experience o...

WHAT... ? IS NOT... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._ App-6....

Gideon, like his father (Judges 6:31), had the ready wit to extricate himself from an awkward situation. For _the gleaning of the grapes_see Isaiah 17:6; Micah 7:1; the word is used of fruit, not of corn. Ephraim indeed arrived late upon the scene, but they had the glory of capturing the chiefs. Gideon speaks only of Abiezer, his own clansmen; the 300 warriors chosen from different tribes, Judges 7:2-8, belong to another version of the story. Probably Judges 8:3 was followed by Judges 8:29 in the o