71 And Jerubbaal (he 'is' Gideon) riseth early, and all the people who 'are' with him, and they encamp by the well of Harod, and the camp of Midian hath been on the south of him, on the height of Moreh, in the valley. 2 And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, 'Too many 'are' the people who 'are' with thee for My giving Midian into their hand, lest Israel beautify itself against Me, saying, My hand hath given salvation to me; 3 and now, call, I pray thee, in the ears of the people, saying, Whoso 'is' afraid and trembling, let him turn back and go early from mount Gilead;' and there turn back of the people twenty and two thousand, and ten thousand have been left. 4 And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, 'Yet 'are' the people too many; bring them down unto the water, and I refine it for thee there; and it hath been, he of whom I say unto thee, This doth go with thee—he doth go with thee; and any of whom I say unto thee, This doth not go with thee—he doth not go.' 5 And he bringeth down the people unto the water, and Jehovah saith unto Gideon, 'Every one who lappeth with his tongue of the water as the dog lappeth—thou dost set him apart; also every one who boweth on his knees to drink.' 6 And the number of those lapping with their hand unto their mouth is three hundred men, and all the rest of the people have bowed down on their knees to drink water. 7 And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, 'By the three hundred men who are lapping I save you, and have given Midian into thy hand, and all the people go, each to his place.' 8 And the people take the provision in their hand, and their trumpets, and every man of Israel he hath sent away, each to his tents; and on the three hundred men he hath kept hold, and the camp of Midian hath been by him at the lower part of the valley.
9 And it cometh to pass, on that night, that Jehovah saith unto him, 'Rise, go down into the camp, for I have given it into thy hand; 10 and if thou art afraid to go down—go down, thou and Phurah thy young man, unto the camp, 11 and thou hast heard what they speak, and afterwards are thy hands strengthened, and thou hast gone down against the camp.' And he goeth down, he and Phurah his young man, unto the extremity of the fifties who 'are' in the camp; 12 and Midian and Amalek, and all the sons of the east are lying in the valley, as the locust for multitude, and of their camels there is no number, as sand which 'is' on the sea-shore for multitude. 13 And Gideon cometh in, and lo, a man is recounting to his companion a dream, and saith, 'Lo, a dream I have dreamed, and lo, a cake of barley-bread is turning itself over into the camp of Midian, and it cometh in unto the tent, and smiteth it, and it falleth, and turneth it upwards, and the tent hath fallen.' 14 And his companion answereth and saith, 'This is nothing save the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; God hath given into his hand Midian and all the camp.' 15 And it cometh to pass, when Gideon heareth the narration of the dream and its interpretation, that he boweth himself, and turneth back unto the camp of Israel, and saith, 'Rise ye, for Jehovah hath given into your hand the camp of Midian.'
16 And he divideth the three hundred men 'into' three detachments, and putteth trumpets into the hand of all of them, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 7:1-16
Commentary on Judges 7:1-8.
(Read Judges 7:1-8.)
God provides that the praise of victory may be wholly to himself, by appointing only three hundred men to be employed. Activity and prudence go with dependence upon God for help in our lawful undertakings. When the Lord sees that men would overlook him, and through unbelief, would shrink from perilous services, or that through pride they would vaunt themselves against him, he will set them aside, and do his work by other instruments. Pretences will be found by many, for deserting the cause and escaping the cross. But though a religious society may thus be made fewer in numbers, yet it will gain as to purity, and may expect an increased blessing from the Lord. God chooses to employ such as are not only well affected, but zealously affected in a good thing. They grudged not at the liberty of the others who were dismissed. In doing the duties required by God, we must not regard the forwardness or backwardness of others, nor what they do, but what God looks for at our hands. He is a rare person who can endure that others should excel him in gifts or blessings, or in liberty; so that we may say, it is by the special grace of God that we regard what God says to us, and not look to men what they do.
Commentary on Judges 7:9-15
(Read Judges 7:9-15)
The dream seemed to have little meaning in it; but the interpretation evidently proved the whole to be from the Lord, and discovered that the name of Gideon had filled the Midianites with terror. Gideon took this as a sure pledge of success; without delay he worshipped and praised God, and returned with confidence to his three hundred men. Wherever we are, we may speak to God, and worship him. God must have the praise of that which encourages our faith. And his providence must be acknowledged in events, though small and seemingly accidental.
Commentary on Judges 7:16-22
(Read Judges 7:16-22)
This method of defeating the Midianites may be alluded to, as exemplifying the destruction of the devil's kingdom in the world, by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the sounding that trumpet, and the holding forth that light out of earthen vessels, for such are the ministers of the gospel, 2 Corinthians 4:6,7. God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, a barley-cake to overthrow the tents of Midian, that the excellency of the power might be of God only. The gospel is a sword, not in the hand, but in the mouth: the sword of the Lord and of Gideon; of God and Jesus Christ, of Him that sits on the throne and the Lamb. The wicked are often led to avenge the cause of God upon each other, under the power of their delusions, and the fury of their passions. See also how God often makes the enemies of the church instruments to destroy one another; it is a pity that the church's friends should ever act like them.