EXPOSITION. Ver. 33.-Tbe llidianites, &c. Seever. 3, now, but they met with a different reception note. The valley of Jezreel. Rather, twi this time. plain, '' the great plain of Esdrae Ion," as the Ver. 34.-The Spirit of the Lord, &c. See Book of Judith styles it (Judith i. 8; see eh. iii. 10; xi. 29; xiii. 25; xiv. 6, 19; cf. eh. iv. 13, note). The great plain of Jezreel. Isa. xi. 2 ; lxi. 1 ; John xx. 22 ; .Acts xiii. 2 ; or Esdraelon (which is the Greek form of the xx. 28 ; and l Cor. xii. 4. Abi-ezer. His name), through which the Kishon flows, is own family (ver. 11; see Josh. xvii. 2). tight hours in len,,<Tthfrom east to west, and five In Numb. xxvi. 30 the name appears as hours (twelve miles) in breadth from north Jcezer, by a very defective transliteration- to south. It ui described as "a very exten- .Aiezer represents the Hebrew letters. The b sive ancl fertile plain shut in between the has probably fallen out by accident. Here we mountain ranges of Samaria and Mount have the immediate fruit of Gideon's daring Carmel on the south, and of Galilee on the in the cause of God. The whole family of north," and extending from the Mediterra- .Abi-ezer, numbering p1·obably thousands, nean at the Gulf of Caipha, or Baipha, to the sprang to bis side. valley of the Jordan. The access to it from Ver. 35.-He eent messengers, &c. Ma- the fords of Jordan in the neighbourhood of nasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali were Bethshan (or Beisha!n,1 called by the Greeks the adjacent tribes-Mane.sseh (i. e. the half ,Scytlwpolis) made it the natural place for tribe of Manasseh, west of Jordan) on the invasion by the wild tribes east of Jordan, south, Asher on the west, and Zebulun and as it is to this day. Particular parts of thui N apbtali on the north. Three of these great plain are called "the valley of Me- were the very tribes who had fought under gidclo " and "the plain of Samaria." For a Barak, and it is pleasing to see Asher now full account of the plain of Esdraelon see joiued with them instead of abiding in his Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' eh. ix. Went Lreaches. Tbui ready compliance with tLe over, ·i. c. crossed the Jordan. It appears call was the consequence of the Spiiit of the from vers. 3-5 that these invasions were Lord br.ing upon Gideon. Came up. No repeated at certe.in seasons. When they had doubt Gideon was encamped upon one of the plundered all they could get, and eaten up all southern hills that overlooked the plain, pro- the produce of tL.e land, they would go back ba bly Gilboe., just ae Barak was on Mount for a while to their own country ee.st of Jor- Tabor (see eh. viii. 8-12). To meet them, dan, arnl then return again. So they did i. e. Gideon and the Abi-ezritcs. CB, VI. 33-40.] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 71
Ver. 36.-If thou wilt save, &c. There note) where Gideon was encamped, as they is something touching in Gideon's diffidence seem to have been on Mount Gilboa (2 Sam. of himself, even now that he found himself i. 21) and on Hermon (Ps. cxxxiii. 3), and at the head of a large force. The thought sheep-skins may have been a common pro- that he was "the least in his father's house" tection against the cold nights, as in Afghan- seems still to i:iossess him, and he can hardly istan ; and he may have noticed how often believe it possible that he is to save Israel. in the morning both the skin that covered In his humility he craves a sign that he is him, and the ground. around, was wet with indeed chosen nnd called. the heavy dew. And this may have sug- Vers. 37-40.-It is difficult to guess what gested the double test, by which his faith led to this somewhat quaint sign which was, through God's condescending mercy, Gideon asked. Possibly the dews were usually confirmed and established. heavy upon the hill of Gilead (eh. vii. 3,