639 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him,.... The night after there had been so great a reduction of his army, from 32,000 to three hundred: arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hands; that is, go down from the hill where he and his little army were, to the valley of Jezreel, where lay the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But if thou fear to go down,.... With his little army, to attack a numerous host in the night, then he is directed to take this step first: go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host; in a private manner; perhaps this man was his aid-de-camp, or however a trusty servant in whom he could confide, as well as valiant: more it was not proper to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And thou shalt hear what they shall say,.... The Midianites, or what shall be said by any of them; for though it was the night season, and so not a time for much conversation, as it may be supposed to be the dead of the night; yet something would be said and heard, which is a clear proof of the prescience of God respecting future contingent...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Midianites and the Amalekites, and the children of the east,.... The Arabians, who with the Amalekites joined the Midianites in this expedition: lay along in the valley in the valley of Jezreel, in their tents, which overspread the valley, or at least great part of it: like grasshoppers for multitude; or locusts, which usually come in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Gideon was come,.... With his servant, near and within hearing the talk and conversation of the outer guards or sentinels: there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow; his comrade that stood next him, and was upon guard with him; perhaps it was a dream he had dreamed the night before or this selfsame night, being just called up to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his fellow answered and said,.... As the dream was no doubt from God, so the interpretation of it was; it was he that put into the mind of the soldier's comrade to whom he told it to interpret it as follows; or otherwise in all likelihood he would never have thought of it: this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof,.... Or, "the breaking of it" (g); the dream itself being like something closed up and sealed, and the interpretation of it was like the breaking of a seal, and discovering what is hid under it; or like a nut, the kernel of which cannot be come at till the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto them, look on me, and do likewise,.... Observe what I do, and do the same, in blowing a trumpet, breaking a pitcher, and shouting with the words expressed by him: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp; where the sentinels stood, and the watch was set: it shall be, that as I do, so shall ye do; and not before; a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me,.... He being at the head of one of the three companies, Judges 7:19 perhaps the middlemost, which might stand for the body of the army; and the other two be one to the right and the other to the left of him, and so could more easily discover his motions: then blow ye the trumpets also on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Gideon, and the one hundred men that were with him,.... Which was one of the three companies his army was divided into, and which company he had the command of particularly: came unto the outside of the camp, in the beginning of the middle watch; the second watch, for the night was divided into three watches; for though in later times there...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers,.... The other two, observing what Gideon and his company did, followed their example, and at the same time blew their trumpets, and broke their pitchers; for that there were four companies, three besides Gideon's, as Kimchi and Ben Melech suggest, there is no reason to believe: and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they stood every man in his place around the camp,.... To see the salvation of God, and that it might most clearly appear to be his own doing; and indeed, had they gone into it, they could have done nothing; they had no weapons in their hands, a trumpet in one hand, and a lamp in the other; though this their position served to increase the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the three hundred men blew the trumpets,.... Kept blowing them to continue and increase the terror of the enemy, and still held the lamps in their hands, and stood as torch bearers to light the Midianites and their associates to destroy one another, as follows: and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow throughout the host; and so...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the men of Israel gathered themselves together,.... Not out of all the tribes, but out of those which lay nearest, and which are particularly mentioned: out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh: and these seem to be the same persons out of those tribes who first joined Gideon, but were separated from his army; both those that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Gideon sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim,.... To raise the inhabitants of it, who lay nearer Jordan, to which the Midianites would make, in order to intercept them in their flight; or however get possession of the fords of Jordan before them, and hinder their passage over it: saying, come down against the Midianites; for though he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Judges 8 In this chapter we are told how Gideon pacified the Ephraimites, who complained because they were not sent unto to fight the Midianites, Judges 8:1 how he pursued the Midianites, until he took their two kings, and on his return chastised the men of Succoth and Penuel, because they refused to relieve his men with food as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the men of Ephraim said unto him,.... To Gideon, when they brought him the heads of Oreb and Zeeb; taking this to be a proper opportunity to expostulate and chide with him, when they had done so much service: why hast thou served us thus; neglected them, overlooked them, which they took as a reproach to them, and as if he had bore them ill...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...