Judges 8 - Introduction

Judges 6-8. Gideon Delivers Israel from the Midianites. The next war was waged, not against disciplined soldiers, but against a horde of nomads from the eastern desert. The Midianites are represented in the OT sometimes as peaceful shepherds (Exodus 2:15 f.*), sometimes as caravan traders (Genesis 37:28; Genesis 37:36), and sometimes as Bedouin marauders. It was in the last of these rô les that they became a plague to the Israelites, especially to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The hero chosen to deliver the nation from them was the Manassite Gideon, who was impelled by various motives patriotism, for he identified himself with his oppressed people (Judges 6:13); personal revenge, for some of his own brothers had been murdered by the raiders (Judges 8:19); and, above all, the consciousness of a Divine vocation and inspiration (Judges 6:14; Judges 6:34). The memory of his victory became a proudly cherished tradition, and centuries afterwards a reference to the Day of Midian still reminded Israel how the yoke of his (Israel's) burden, and the staff of his shoulder, and the rod of his oppressor had been broken (Isaiah 9:4; cf. Isaiah 10:26; Psalms 83:9). Time added picturesque details to the original story, and editors attempted, without complete success, to fuse the various elements into a literary whole.