Judges 7:19-8:3

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 7:19

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

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 7:19

The middle watch - The old Jewish division of the night was three watches of four hours each. They are alluded to in Exo 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11; Psalms 63:6; Psalms 90:4; Psalms 119:148; Psalms 130:6; Lamentations 2:19. After the Jews fell under the power of the Romans, they used the Roman division of four watches of three hours each Matthew 14:25; Mark 13:35.“The beginning” of the watch would be about eleven o’clock at night. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 7:19

Judges 7:19. Middle watch That is, of the second watch; for though afterward the night was divided into four watches by the Romans, (Matthew 14:25,) yet in more ancient times, and in the eastern parts, it was divided into three: he chose the dark and dead of the night, to increase their terror by the trumpets, whose sound would then be loudest, and the lamps, whose light would then shine most brightly, to surprise them, and conceal the smallness of their numbers. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 7:1-25

Deliverance under Gideon (7:1-8:35)God allowed Gideon only three hundred men to launch the attack against the Midianites, so that Israel might know that victory was not by military power but by God’s power (7:1-8). A Midianite soldier’s dream showed that an unnatural fear had come upon the Midianites. When he dreamt that a poor man’s loaf of barley overthrew a rich man’s tent, he thought that poverty-stricken Israel would overthrow Midian’s army. The Midianites could, in fact, have wiped out... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Judges 7:19

THE ATTACK"So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, and they blew the trumpets, and brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 7:19-21

The defeat of the Midianites 7:19-8:21Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites took some time and involved some conflict with the other Israelites. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 7:19-22

Gideon’s initial victory 7:19-22Gideon commenced his "attack" at the beginning of the middle watch, which was evidently midnight. [Note: Bush, p. 104; Keil and Delitzsch, p. 347. Lindsey, p. 394, wrote that it was 10:00 p.m.] Many of the Midianites would have been sound asleep and upon awakening would have felt confused by the sights and sounds of their enemies. The movements of their own men milling around the camp as a result of the recent watch change would have disoriented them further.... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 7:1-25

The Rout of Midian1-7. Gideon’s choice of his Followers.1. The sites here mentioned are doubtful. Moreh] said to be near Shechem (Genesis 12:6; Deuteronomy 11:30). After the battle Gideon crosses the Jordan by the fords one would take if travelling from Shechem eastwards. 3. Gilead] is E. of the Jordan: some other locality must be meant. For the return of the timid, cp. Deuteronomy 20:8.5. Probably an arbitrary test. It is as easy to find abstract reasons for choosing those who stooped down as... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 7:19

(19) The middle watch.—The Jews anciently divided the night, from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M., into three watches (Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11). The subsequent division into four watches of three hours each was borrowed from the Romans (Matthew 14:25; Mark 6:48). At the beginning of the middle watch—i.e., soon after 10 at night—would be the time at which the host would be buried in their first sleep.They had but newly set the watch.—Literally, scarcely—or. “just in rousing they roused the watch.” The... read more

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