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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 7:16-22

Here is, I. The alarm which Gideon gave to the hosts of Midian in the dead time of the night; for it was intended that those who had so long been a terror to Israel, and had so often frightened them, should themselves be routed and ruined purely by terror. 1. The attack here made was, in many circumstances, like that which Abraham made upon the army that had taken Lot captive. The number of men was much the same: Abraham had 318, Gideon 300; they both divided their forces, both made their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 7:16

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 trumpets behind them, whereby there was a sufficient number for three hundred men; and these were put into their hands, that when they blew them... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 7:17

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 trumpet was not to be blown, nor a pitcher broken, nor a torch held out, nor a word spoken, till just they came to the outside of the camp:... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 7:18

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 every side of all the camp ; for it seems they were so disposed as to be around the camp, which when the trumpets were blown at once on every... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 7:19

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 were four watches, among the Romans F8 Liv. Hist. l. 36. c. 24. "Suidas in. voce" προφνλακη , "et in voce" φνλακη , and which the Jews... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 7:20

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 held the lamps in their left hands ; which they took out of the pitchers when they broke them, and holding them up in their left hands, gave... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 7:16

He divided the three hundred men - Though the victory was to be from the Lord, yet he knew that he ought to use prudential means; and those which he employed on this occasion were the best calculated to answer the end. If he had not used these means, it is not likely that God would have delivered the Midianites into his hands. Sometimes, even in working a miracle, God will have natural means used: Go, dip thyself seven times in Jordan. Go, wash in the pool Siloam. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 7:18

The sword of the Lord , and of Gideon - The word חרב chereb , "sword," is not found in this verse, though it is necessarily implied, and is found in Judges 7:20 . But it is found in this place in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, and in eight of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. The reading appears to be genuine. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 7:20

Blew the trumpets , and brake the pitchers - How astonishing must the effect be, in a dark night, of the sudden glare of three hundred torches, darting their splendor, in the same instant, on the half-awakened eyes of the terrified Midianites, accompanied with the clangour of three hundred trumpets, alternately mingled with the thundering shout of ולגדעון ליהוה חרב chereb layhovah ulegidon , "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" Origen, in his ninth homily on this book,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 7:16

Gideon himself took the command of one company, and sent the other two under their respective captains to different sides of the camp Judges 7:18, Judges 7:21. read more

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