Judges 8:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So Gideon said, "Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers."

NIV: Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers."

NASB: So Gideon said, 'For this answer, when the Lord has handed over to me Zebah and Zalmunna, I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.'

CSB: Gideon replied, "Very well, when the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will tear your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness!"

NLT: So Gideon said, 'After the Lord gives me victory over Zebah and Zalmunna, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briers from the wilderness.'

KJV: And Gideon said, Therefore when the Lord hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

NKJV: So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!”

Gideon's 300 fighting men need food. They've been chasing down the remnant of the Midianite army led by two kings called Zebah and Zalmunna, but they're exhausted. If they're going to keep going, they need to eat (Judges 8:4–6).

In a town called Succoth, near the Jordan river, Gideon has asked fellow Israelites for food. Surprisingly, the people of Succoth flatly refused to help Gideon's men. Their excuse is that Gideon has not yet caught and killed the Midianite kings. The implication is fear: the people are afraid of what the Midianites might do to them if Gideon loses.

The cold rejection, at a crucial moment, makes Gideon angry. His fellow countrymen are unwilling to help defeat their oppressors (Judges 6:1–5). Rather than retaliate immediately, or take supplies by force, he promises to hold Succoth accountable for their refusal to help. Once the Lord has given him the capture of Zebah and Zalmunna, Gideon will return to their town and bring pain. His description suggests a whip or switch made from the sharp, piercing thorns growing wild on the plants in the wilderness. He fully intends to flog the people of Succoth for their refusal to help.

Commentators debate whether this part of Gideon's campaign was driven by God's will. The text neither affirms nor denies that God's Spirit was still with Gideon. Nor does it indicate if his decision to punish these people was from God. Gideon is confident that Yahweh will give him the victory, but Yahweh is not heard from. A similar scene will shortly repeat in the next town.

Judges 8:1–21 begins with a confrontation between Gideon and the men of Ephraim. Gideon defuses the situation with diplomacy. With his original 300 fighters, he chases down the remnant of the Midianite army led by two kings known as Zebah and Zalmunna. Once the Midianites are defeated and the kings are captured, Gideon punishes the men of two Israelite towns who refused to help him. He then reveals to the captured kings that they murdered his own brothers at Mount Tabor. He kills them and takes their distinctive jewelry as spoils of war.

Gideon soothes the anger of the men of Ephraim. Then, with his 300 fighting men, he chases the remnant of the Midianite army. After a difficult pursuit, he finally catches and defeats them in the wilderness. Gideon then returns to two Israelite towns who refused to help him along the way. He flogs the leaders of one town and kills the men of the other. He then executes the captured enemy kings. Gideon collects tribute from Israel but declines to become their official king. He lives to gain seventy sons, many wives, and at least one Canaanite concubine. When Gideon dies, Israel immediately returns to idol worship.

Judges 8 follows the great victory described at the end of the previous chapter. This passage begins with Gideon awkwardly soothing the anger of Ephraimites while trying to chase down an escaping enemy. After capturing the Midianite kings, Gideon punishes two towns for failing to aid their fellow Israelites. Gideon refuses to become a literal king but collects tribute from the people and lives like a king all his days, with many wives and sons. The people return to idol worship after his death. Soon after, the concubine's son, Abimelech, murders Gideon's other sons and briefly rules before meeting a gruesome death.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).