The Pulpit Commentary — Judges — Section 74

EXPOSITION. Ver. 9.--Get thee down, &c., i. e. attack L~mpa. Ra~hcr, e.s in the margin, i,orclw, the camp at once with thy 300 men. But w1thm the pitchers, so e.s not to be seen till if thou art afraid to do so, go down first the pitchers were brokeu, when the torches Rlone with Phurah thy servant, and hear what would flare with a sudden blaze. The pit- they are saying in the camp. chei·s were vessels for drawing wa.tcr, as Yer. 11.-The armed men. The exact appears from Gen. xxiv. 14, 16, 18, 20. meaning of the word here rendered (1.rmed, They were doubtless of earthenware, as they men (chamnshim), and which occurs Exod. were so easily broken. xiii. JS ; Josh. i. 14 ; iv. 12, is a little un- Ver. 18.-The sword of the Lord, &c. certain, bnt it is generally thought to be The wo~d _su:ord is not in the original here, E~-nonymous with another word (chalu;tsim), though 1t 1s m Yer. 20. It has either dropped also rendered armed (Numb. xxxii. 32; Dent. out of the text accidentally, or what we have iii. 18), and to mean literally girded, i. e. )1ere is the shorter form of the war-cry. It prepared to fight. These fighting men, as IS observable how careful Gideon is to put distin£;nished from the numbers of the no- the name of Jehovah first. It was his cause mads 'who were with their camels and cattle ~gai~st Baal, and the battle was tr, be fought scattered all along the plain, were all col- m his strength, and the glory of the victory lecte,l in the camp, to the edge of which was to be his. The cry, "The sword of Gi,leon and Phurah crept stealthily in the Gideon," would be peculiarly terrible to the dark. many who had heard of the dream, of which T'er. 13.-A cake. The Hebrew word the fulfilment was come so quickly. occurs nowhere else. Of barley bread. The Ver. 19.-The middle watch. The ancient commonest kind of bread, the food of only Israelites divided the night into three watches the poorer classes, indicating, therefore, the of four hours each, from sunset to sunrise, humble origin and station ·of Gideon. A i. e. from six p.m. to six e..m. The first tent. Rather, the tent; what in a Roman camp watch, from six to ten, is not mentioned in would be the pretoriu;m, the general's tent. the Old Testament ; but we have the middle The "lrnrds at the end of the verse are heaped watch mentioned here (from ten to two), e.nd np to indicate the total and entire upsetting the morning watch (from two till six) : Exod. n.nd overthrow of the tent, symbolic of the xiv. 24 and 1 Sam. xi. 11. According to rout and destruction of the Midianite host. this, Gideon's attack would have taken place Ver. 14.-This is nothing else, &c. The soon after ten p.m., or towards eleven, the Jream and the interpretation are striking time when the sleep would be the deepest, evidences of the terror which Gideon's name the watchmen of the first watch having had already inspired among the Midianites. lately fallen into their first sleep. The later Because, although both the dream and the Israelites adopted the Roman divisiQjl of the interpretation were of God, for the encou- night into four watches (Matt. xiv. 25; ragement of Gideon in his great undertaking, Markvi. 48; cf. Luke xii. 38; Markxiii. 35). yet they followed the course of nature and Ver. 21.-They stood, &c. Gideon's men the laws of psychology. The ;presentiment did not advance, but stood, each company that God had delivered 11-Iidia.n mto Gideon's in the place assigned to them, at different band is exactly like the terror in the minds sides of the camp. This had the effect of of the Canaanites which preceded the arrival awakening the whole camp simultaneously, of Joshua (Exod. xxiii. 27 ; Deut. ii. 25; and they started to their feet and ran hither xi 25; Josh. ii 9-11). and thither in confusion, shouting e.s they Ver. 15.-It we.s so, &c. The effect upon went. Undisciplined troops, especially ex- Gideon was like magic. He not only learnt citable Orientals, are very liable to be thus the state of panic in which the Midianites thrown into a panic. Fled. The Cethib were, but he had a further certainty that has, ca'/1,1/cd to fly, i. e. either " put to God was with him. His simple piety e.nd flight," or "carried away," as in eh. Yi. 9; adoring gratitude threw him at once upon Exod. ix. 20. In the former case the his knees to thank God, and to cast him- nominative must be the Israelites,· in the self anew upou his strength with un- latter, their tents, herds, stuff, &c., must ba doubting trust. His bands were indeed understood. Both are very awkward. The strengthened, and he lost not a moment in Keri, fled, is probably right, unless ca,'/1,1/ed returning to his 300, relating in a few worc1i UJ fly has the sense of "bid them fly," in the incident of the dream, and bidding them which case the preceding word, cried, might follow him. The Lord bath delivered, &c. be taken in its common sense of they sounded, Cf. 1 Sam. xiv. 20. an alarm. The whole dause would then Vtr .. 16.-Trumpets, which bad been col- run thus : And all the camp ran; and the1J lected from the whole army (ver. 8, note). s01wided a retreat, and bid them flee. OR, VII, 9-25.] THE DOOK OF JUDGES. 79