Judges 8:4

SUCCOTH AND PENUEL REFUSE TO HELP GIDEON (Judges 8:4-9)

"And Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing. And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread unto thine army? And Gideon said, Therefore when Jehovah hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then will I tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying; When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower."

When the tribes of Reuben, Gad and part of Manasseh had been permitted by Moses to take their inheritance on the east side of Jordan, those tribes made a solemn vow that they WOULD support their brethren who went on into Canaan, but the leaders of Succoth and Penuel here shamefully betrayed their western brethren by refusing to give even a few loaves of bread to Gideon and his bone-weary soldiers who were near exhaustion from their pursuit of Israel's enemies.

How could they have done such an unpatriotic and shameful thing? Dalglish thought that, "The citizens of these two cities might have been Canaanites, or that they may have suffered much already from the Midianites and feared reprisals if they aided Gideon, or that they were Israelites who felt that Gideon's mission was unwarranted, and doomed to utter failure."[6] It appears to this writer that the middle one of these possibilities is correct.

Barnes also agreed that the leaders of these two Trans-Jordanic cities, "Did not wish to risk the vengeance of the Midianites by giving supplies to Gideon's men."[7]

"Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in thy hand?" (Judges 8:6). Keil's rendition of this more clearly gives the meaning: "Is the fist of Zebah and Zalmunna in thy power that we should give thine army bread"? This plainly indicates that it was FEAR OF REPRISAL that motivated the shameful actions of Succoth and Penuel.

"The princes of Succoth" (Judges 8:6). "The word `princes' here is not quite accurate, the word means `officials.'"[8]

"Zebah and Zalmunna the kings of Midian" (Judges 8:6). The Anchor Bible and other liberal explanations question the authenticity of these names with many speculative references to redactors, editors, compilers, etc., but, by far, the most probable understanding is that the inspired Samuel whom we believe to be the author of Judges not only got the names down correctly, but that his simple narrative, as it stands, is worth a hundred scissors-and-paste jobs by critics, no two of whom can agree on anything!

Cundall admitted that the names Zebah and Zalmunna, "May be genuinely Midianite." As for the meaning of these names, David Frances Roberts gave it as, "`Victim' for Zebah and `protection refused' for Zalmunna."[9]

"I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness" (Judges 8:7). Many have spoken of the uncertainty regarding what this means, but we shall defer discussion of it until Judges 8:16.

Gideon also promised to destroy the tower of Penuel when that city also followed Succoth's example of refusing bread for their hungry and exhausted brethren.