Gideon’s second campaign
1The people of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight against Midian?” They argued with him violently. 2He said to them, “What have I done in comparison with what you have done? Are not the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3Yahweh has given the leaders of Midian — Oreb and Zeeb — into your hands. What have I been able to do in comparison with what you have done?” After hearing this, their anger lessened.
4Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it. They were exhausted and hungry. 5So he said to the people of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the army that follows me, for they are exhausted and hungry, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6But the elders of Succoth answered, “Have you by chance already restrained the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna? Why should we give bread to your army?” 7Gideon answered them, “Well, when Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will skin your flesh with the thorns and thistles of the desert.”
8From there he went up to Penuel and made the same request. But they answered him as those of Succoth had. 9So Gideon said, “When I return victorious, I will tear down this tower.”
10Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the people of the East; a hundred and twenty thousand warriors had died! 11Gideon went up by the road of the nomads, east of Nobah and Yogbehah, and fell upon Zebah and Zalmunna and their army. 12Zebah and Zalmunna fled. He pursued them, took the two as prisoners and scattered all their army.
13After the battle, Gideon, the son of Joash, returned through the slope of Heres. 14He caught a young man of the people of Succoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth. 15Gideon went to the people of Succoth and said to them, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna about whom you mocked me by saying: Have you by chance already restrained the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna for us to give bread to your hungry troops?”
16So he took the elders of the town and punished the people of Succoth with thorns and thistles of the desert.
17He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the inhabitants of the town. 18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What did the men whom you killed at Tabor look like?” They answered, “They looked like you, they looked like sons of kings.” 19Gideon answered, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
20He said to Yether, his eldest son, “Courage, kill them!” But the youth did not draw his sword; he did not dare do it for he was still very young. 21So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his courage.” Gideon arose and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels’ necks.
Gideon’s error
22 ① The Israelites said to Gideon, “Since you have saved us from the Midianites, you shall be our king, and after you, your son and the descendants of your son.”
23But Gideon answered, “I will not rule over Israel, nor my son, for Yahweh is our king!” 24Gideon added, “I will ask something from you. Let each of you give me an earring from your booty.” Gideon said this for these Midianites wore gold earrings like all the Ishmaelites.
25They answered him, “That we will gladly do.” Then Gideon spread out his cloak and every Israelite threw in an earring from his booty. 26The gold earrings reached one thousand seven hundred pieces of gold; not counting the brooches, the rings, the expensive garments used by the kings of Midian, and the collars of the camels. 27With this money, Gideon made an idol and put it in his city of Ophrah. People from all Israel began to go to that place, turning away from Yahweh. That was the trap into which Gideon and his family fell.
28In spite of this, the Midianites were humbled in such a way that peace reigned in Israel for forty years during Gideon’s lifetime. 29Gideon returned to Ophrah and remained in his house. 30He had seventy sons of his blood, for he had many wives. 31A woman from the city of Shechem also bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32Gideon the son of Joash died at a happy old age, and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of Abiezer.
33After the death of Gideon, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals and took Baal-Berith as god. 34The Israelites no longer remembered Yahweh, their God, who had freed them from the hands of all the enemies who surrounded them. 35Neither were they grateful to the family of Jerubaal-Gideon for all the good things he had done to Israel.
- Jdg 8,22 The Israelites had to form a nation, and this stage would bring great progress after the anarchy created by disunited and disorganized tribes. For the first time in the Bible, the desire to have a king is hinted at in 8:22-31. Perhaps those who edited the present book in the last century of the kingdom of Jerusalem had been so mistreated by their rulers that they dreamt of a time in the past when there had been neither kings nor administrators. They thought that Israel, being the people of God, had no need of permanent chiefs like the rest of the nations, that perhaps it would have been better had they lived day by day, trusting in Yahweh who would raise up a liberator whenever necessary. That is why the Book of Judges remarks on Gideon's refusal to be their king: Yahweh has to be your king. Unfortunately, Gideon asked for gold instead of authority, and, by this, the hero destroyed everything he had done for his people. All these saviors: Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, and Samson are very disappointing - like many of those who now speak of liberating oppressed people. What lesson shall we draw from these bitter experiences which Scripture recalls? That political action is useless and that we should instead focus our efforts on prayer and catechetical work? Shall we leave to others the struggle for justice? Justice is inscribed on every page of the Bible. Actually, to speak of politics is to speak of power, and power corrupts those who do not have a well formed conscience. Little can be expected of politics where a conscience has not been formed early in a healthy family where a child discovers love and fidelity in his parents (two qualities that are never separated in the Bible), and has not been formed by parents ready to use their authority to control whims. Later, a time will come when God will give priority to personal formation in the family for believers: the time of the Wisdom books and the observance of the Law.
