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 camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted and put them to flight. And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and Jehovah set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian."

"In the beginning of the middle watch" (Judges 7:19). Ancient Israel divided the night into three watches of four hours each - 6 o'clock to 10 o'clock, etc. Therefore, the beginning of the middle watch would have been about 10:00 p.m., shortly after the changing of the guard. By far the greater portion of the Midianite host would have been sound asleep.

"This old Jewish method of `three watches' is alluded to in Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11 and in Lamentations 2:19; after the Jews fell under the power of the Romans, they used the Roman method of `four watches' per night, having three hours each. This was the system mentioned in the gospels Matthew 14:25 and in Mark 13:35."[16]

"Torches in their left hands ... trumpets in their right hands" (Judges 7:20). The type of cavil we have come to expect from critical writers on the Bible is the following: "If each soldier carried a trumpet, a torch, an empty pitcher and a sword, his hands were too full."[17] Based upon this remark, that writer "solved" the "problem" by postulating different "sources," allocating the pitchers and torches to one source, and the trumpets and swords to another source. Of course, this is a foolish observation. Cundall explained the situation by pointing out that, "The `trumpets' were made of rams or cattle horns and were attached to the wearer in such a way that the hands were free."[18] Swords, of course, were not carried in the hand, but in a scabbard by the soldier's side. Furthermore, the pitchers were shattered as the attack began, leaving Gideon's men free to wave the torch in the left hand and to hold the trumpet wherewith to blow in the right hand, just as the text says. Also, there is no evidence that Gideon's men struck a single blow with their swords; they did not need to do that. The Midianites destroyed themselves!

"And they stood every man in his place round about the camp" (Judges 7:21). These men were NOT using their swords at all; they were blowing their trumpets with all their might. They continued to blow the trumpets, and added to the noise resulting from the panic in the enemy's camp, their terror and confusion were augmented and compounded.

"Jehovah set every man's sword against his fellow, and against the whole camp" (Judges 7:22). "That is to say, not merely man against man, but against everyone in the camp, so that there arose a terrible slaughter throughout the whole camp."[19]

"Naphtali ... Asher ... Manasseh ..." (Judges 7:23). What is meant here is that the soldiers of these tribes, also including those of Zebulun, whose name is omitted here, as Keil noted, "Probably due solely to the brevity of the account,"[20] had evidently remained nearby to the battle area instead of every man returning to his home, and, therefore, when the rout of Midian occurred, large forces of these tribes were able to join in the pursuit as Midian fled eastward across the Jordan.