Judges 8:10

ZEBAH AND ZALMUNNA WERE CAPTURED (Judges 8:10-12)

"Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew the sword. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host; for the host was secure. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all his host."

"For the host was secure" (Judges 8:10). The meaning of this is merely that, "The host thought that they were secure:" The RSV makes the meaning clear, "For the army was off its guard." The two kings with their fifteen thousand men had fled far enough east of the Jordan that they fancied themselves to be utterly beyond the reach of the Israelites, and had not even bothered to post a watch. The last five words of these three verses should actually be placed immediately after the words, "And the host was secure." Of course, the utter panic of the army preceded the flight and capture of the two kings. The marginal reference on, "discomfited all the host" gives `terrified' instead of `discomfited'; therefore, the RSV is better: "He threw all the army into a panic."

"Nobah and Jogbehah" (Judges 8:11). "Nobah belonged to the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, and Jogbehah was in the tribe of Gad."[10] Barnes concluded from the supposed location of these places that Gideon was able to fall upon the Midianites at Karkor unexpectedly from the east. Such an attack was totally beyond any anticipation.