Judges 8:18

THE EXECUTION OF THE TWO KINGS

"Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as Jehovah liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. And he said unto Jether his first-born, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks."

There is hardly another passage in the Bible where our disagreement with some of the commentators is any more pronounced than it is in this. Robert Boling, writing in Anchor Bible (Judges) says of this passage:

"Thus Gideon rides roughshod over a basic covenant stipulation (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11, "Thou shalt not kill"), inasmuch as the vengeance being executed here is strictly personal. He has usurped Jehovah's executive prerogative (Romans 12:19, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord") ... an enormous act of private vengeance."[17]

There is no greater error among present-day scholars than this outburst against Gideon's faithful obedience to the commandment of God who commanded, "Whosoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image" (Genesis 9:6). "This is not merely a permission legalizing, but an imperative command enjoining capital punishment for murderers."[18] "When God commands man to execute murderers, He delegates this task to him, and it becomes his God-given responsibility to do it."[19]

In Gideon's case, God's Word specifically commanded him to execute vengeance upon the murderers of his brothers. The institution of the "cities of refuge" was not for the purpose of protecting willful murderers from their just punishment, but in order to protect the unintentional manslayer from the avenger of blood. "It was the duty of the nearest relative to execute vengeance upon the murderer of his kin; he became the [~go'el]."[20] In this light, Gideon's execution of his brothers' murderer is exactly what God had commanded him to do.

The efforts of our current society to abolish capital punishment is not merely a mistake; it is a violation of the law of God! The shameful leniency of the judiciary in our own day is having exactly the same effect that God's leniency with Cain produced, filling the entire world with bloody violence. Any human society that wishes to bring about the universal bloodshed and violence which precipitated the Great Deluge could not possibly choose any quicker way to do so than to reject the commandment of God that orders human societies to execute murderers.

Gideon, as the "de facto" head of state, was the appropriate center of authority for the execution of all murderers. In this connection, it is of interest that some scholars apparently do not know the difference between "Thou shalt do no murder," which is the proper translation of Exodus 7 and, "The man shall surely be put to death" (Numbers 15:35), which was also the Word of God concerning certain violators of Divine law, including murderers. (For further comment on this, see Vol. 1 (Genesis) of the series on the Pentateuch, pp. 136,137.)

"What manner of men were they?" (Gideon's brothers) (Judges 8:18). The RSV renders this: "Where are the men whom ye slew at Tabor?" "Tabor here is a reference either to the mountain of that name, or to a village near it."[21] We prefer the ASV, because it corresponds with the answer given by the two kings.

"They resembled the children of a king" (Judges 8:18). This reply was designed to provide a reason for their senseless murder of Gideon's brothers. The implied plea is that, "Their kingly appearance indicated their importance, and therefore we were afraid to spare them." Of course, Gideon did not allow such a ridiculous excuse.

"The sons of my mother" (Judges 8:19). Uterine brothers were supposed to be closer to each other than those who were the sons of a common father by different mothers. Jacob and Esau were glaring exceptions to that general rule.

"And he said to Jether his first-born, Up, and slay them" (Judges 8:20). "It is likely that Gideon led his prisoners home in triumph, and that they were put to death at Ophrah."[22] This opinion seems justified because we could hardly suppose that Gideon's young son had been among the "three hundred" who went with Gideon beyond the Jordan.

"The youth drew not his sword, for he feared" (Judges 8:20). This is easily understood. This writer's nephew went on a deer hunt, and, as luck would have it, a large buck walked right in front of him only a few yards up wind away, but the young man froze with the gun in his hand; he simply could not pull the trigger! Slaying a fellow human being of course, would present an even greater shock to one who had never killed a man.

"And Gideon slew them, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks" (Judges 8:21). Of course, Gideon took the camels also, which Zebah and Zalmunna had evidently been permitted to ride to Ophrah. The crescents are evidently mentioned here, because those gold ornaments became a snare and a temptation to Gideon.