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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 8:18-21

Judgment began at the house of God, in the just correction of the men of Succoth and Penuel, who were Israelites, but it did not end there. The kings of Midian, when they had served to demonstrate Gideon's victories, and grace his triumphs, must now be reckoned with. 1. They are indicted for the murder of Gideon's brethren some time ago at Mount Tabor. When the children of Israel, for fear of the Midianites, made themselves dens in the mountains (Jdg. 6:2), those young men, it is likely, took... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 8:21

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, rise thou and fall upon us ,.... Since they must die, they chose rather to die by the hand of so great a man and valiant a commander as Gideon, which was more honourable than to die by the hand of a youth: for as the man is, so is his strength ; signifying, that as he was a stout able man, he had strength sufficient to dispatch them at once, which his son had not, and therefore they must have died a lingering and painful death: wherefore as they consulted... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 8:21

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said , Rise , thou , and fall upon us - It was disgraceful to fall by the hands of a child; and the death occasioned by the blows of such a person must be much more lingering and tormenting. Some have even employed children to despatch captives. Civilis, a Roman knight, headed a revolt of the Gauls against Rome, in the year of the city 824. Of him Tacitus says, Hist. lib. iv., c. 61: Ferebatur parvulo filio quosdam captivorum sagittis jaculisque puerilibus... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 8:21

The ornaments - See marg. and compare Isaiah 3:18. The custom of adorning the necks of their camels with gold chains and ornaments prevailed among the Arabs so late as the time of Mahomet. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 8:21

Judges 8:21. Rise thou, and fall upon us They thought it better to die by the hand of Gideon, who was as eminent for his strength as his dignity, and would despatch them with more speed than a stripling could. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 8:1-35

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

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 8:21

ornaments = crescent-shaped ornaments used still on necks of horses and camels. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 8:1-32

1. The story of Gideon 6:1-8:32Paul Tanner pointed out that the Gideon narrative consists of five primary structural sections."The first section (Judges 6:1-10) provides the introduction and setting before Gideon’s debut, the second section (Judges 6:11-32) gives the commissioning of Gideon as deliverer of Israel, the third section (Judges 6:33 to Judges 7:18) presents the preparation for the battle, the fourth section (Judges 7:19 to Judges 8:21) recounts the defeat of the Midianite army, and... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 8:18-21

The execution of the Midianite kings 8:18-21Gideon took his prisoners back to Ophrah where the following events evidently took place. The Midianite kings had apparently executed Gideon’s brothers sometime before the recent battle, perhaps during one of the Midianites’ previous raids. It seems that Gideon was unable to avenge his brothers’ deaths then due, most likely, to the Midianites’ superiority. Now Gideon had the upper hand.Gideon appears to have been an imposing person physically. The... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 8:19-21

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

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