Judges 6:1-6

The Midianite oppression

1 .The Deuteronomic editor introduces a fresh subject in his accustomed manner: cf. Judges 2:11; Judges 2:14; Judges 3:7; Judges 4:1.

Midian The Midianites had their homes on the E. of the -Arâbah; see Genesis 25:6. At times they are found as far N. as Moab (Genesis 36:35; Numbers 22:4; Numbers 25:15 ff; Numbers 31:1-12), while some section of them lived as far S. as the Gulf of -Aḳ ăbah; a trace of this southern settlement was long preserved in the name of the town called Modiana by Ptolemy (Judges 6:7; Judges 6:2) and Madyan by Arab geographers, 75 miles S. of Elath; cf. Euseb., Onom. Sacr., 136 f. Again, the Midianites are said to have inhabited the Sinaitic peninsula. Horeb, the mountain of God, lay in their territory, Exodus 2:15 ff; Exodus 3:1, cf. Habakkuk 3:7; from 1 Kings 11:18 Midian appears to be a district between Edom and Paran on the way to Egypt, i.e. in the N.E. of the Sinaitic desert. These various statements do not enable us to fix any exact boundaries; probably the Midianites shifted their territory in the course of ages. They ranged over the desert E. and S. of Palestine, engaged chiefly in warfare and in escorting trade-caravans (Genesis 37:28; Isaiah 60:6). The tendency of Arab tribes was to move northwards; accordingly we find the Midianites advancing up the desert E. of the caravan-route, and making forays from time to time into Edom 1 [35], Moab, and Gilead; on this occasion they even enter Palestine, probably by the valleys Wadi Jâlûd or W. Fara-, which lead up from the Jordan into the central district. They were tempted by the harvests, and their incursions, here described as taking place repeatedly, caused wide-spread misery. The Bedouin of the desert always looked upon the agricultural population as lawful prey.

[35] Ewald made the attractive suggestion that the battle alluded to in Genesis 36:35 may have been a secondary result of Gideon's victory described here. Hist. Isr.ii. 336.