Judges 7:22 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Judges 7:22
And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
three · noun, common both genders singular construct
hundred
מֵא֣וֹתme.'ot
H3967
a hundred · noun, common feminine plural absolute
blew
וַֽיִּתְקְעוּ֮vai.yit.ke.'U
H8628
to clatter · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
trumpets
הַשּׁוֹפָרוֹת֒ha.sho.fa.rOt
H7782
a cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved horn · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
set
וַיָּ֣שֶׂםvai.Ya.sem
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
man’s
אִ֛ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sword
חֶ֥רֶבChe.rev
H2719
drought · noun, common feminine singular construct
fellow
בְּרֵעֵ֖הוּbe.re.'E.hu
H7453
an associate (more or less close) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
host
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑הha.ma.cha.Neh
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
host
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֜הha.ma.cha.Neh
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
fled
וַיָּ֨נָסvai.Ya.nos
H5127
to flit · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Beth-shittah
בֵּ֤יתbeit
H1029
Beth-hash-Shittah · proper noun, a place name
Zererath
צְֽרֵרָ֔תָהtze.re.Ra.tah
H6888
Tsererah for Tseredah · proper noun, a place name
border
שְׂפַתse.fat-
H8193
the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine singular construct
Abel-meholah
אָבֵ֥ל'a.Vel
H65
Abel-Mecholah · proper noun, a place name
Tabbath
טַבָּֽתta.Bat
H2888
Tabbath · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Kings 4:12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to…
Joshua 6:4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and th…
Joshua 6:16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath give…
Joshua 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the…
1 Kings 19:16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be p…
2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made…
Psalms 83:9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
Isaiah 9:4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Judges 7:16-22
Here is, I. The alarm which Gideon gave to the hosts of Midian in the dead time of the night; for it was intended that those who had so long been a terror to Israel, and had so often frightened them, should themselves be routed and ruined purely by terror.
1. The attack here made was, in many circumstances, like that which Abraham made upon the army that had taken Lot captive. The number of men was much the same: Abraham had 318, Gideon 300; they both divided their forces, both made their attack by night, and were both victorious under great disadvantages (Gen 14:14, Gen 14:15); and Gideon is not only a son of Abraham (so were the Midianites by Keturah) but an heir of his faith. Gideon, (1.)…
HIS STRATAGEM AGAINST MIDIAN. (Jdg 7:16-24)
he divided the three hundred men into three companies--The object of dividing his forces was, that they might seem to be surrounding the enemy. The pitchers were empty to conceal the torches, and made of earthenware, so as to be easily broken; and the sudden blaze of the held-up lights--the loud echo of the trumpets, and the shouts of Israel, always terrifying (Num 23:21), and now more terrible than ever by the use of such striking words, broke through the stillness of the midnight air. The sleepers started from their rest; not a blow was dealt by the Israelites; but the enemy ran tumultuously, uttering the wild, discordant cries peculiar to the A…
And the three hundred men blew the trumpets,.... Kept blowing them to continue and increase the terror of the enemy, and still held the lamps in their hands, and stood as torch bearers to light the Midianites and their associates to destroy one another, as follows:
and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow throughout the host; and so slew one another; either suspecting treachery, as Grotius, and so in revenge, wrath, and indignation, drew their swords on each other; or through the terror and amazement they were in at the sounds they heard, and the blazing torches dazzling their eyes, they knew not what they did, or who they fell upon, taking their friends for foes, supposing the…
Dictionary and topics
Abelmeholah — (meadow of the dance), in the northern pat of the Jordan valley, (1 Kings 4:12) to which the routed Bedouin host fled from Gideon, (Judges 7:22) Here Elisha was found at his plough by Elijah…
Bethshittah — (home of the acacia), one of the spots to which the flight of the host of the Midianites extended after their discomfiture by Gideon. (Judges 7:22)
Dream — God has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to men. The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob (Gen. 28:12; 31:10), Laban (31:24), Joseph…
Esdraelon — The Greek form of the Hebrew “Jezreel,” the name of the great plain (called by the natives Merj Ibn Amer; i.e., “the meadow of the son of Amer”) which stretches across Central Palestine from the…
Harod — Palpitation, a fountain near which Gideon and his army encamped on the morning of the day when they encountered and routed the Midianites (Judg. 7). It was south of the hill Moreh. The present ‘Ain…
Oreb — Raven, a prince of Midian, who, being defeated by Gideon and put to straits, was slain along with Zeeb (Judg. 7:20-25). Many of the Midianites perished along with him (Ps. 83:9; Isa. 10:26).
Tabbath — Famous, a town in the tribe of Ephraim (Judg. 7:22), to the south of Bethshean, near the Jordan.
Zarthan — A place near Succoth, in the plain of the Jordan, “in the clay ground,” near which Hiram cast the brazen utensils for the temple (1 Kings 7:46); probably the same as Zartan. It is also called…
Zereda — The fortress, a city on the north of Mount Ephraim; the birthplace of Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26). It is probably the same as Zaretan (Josh. 3:16), Zererath (Judg. 7:22), Zartanah (1 Kings 4:12), or the…
Zererath — (Judg. 7:22), perhaps identical with Zereda or Zeredathah. Some identify it with Zahrah, a place about 3 miles west of Beth-shean.
Whilst the 300 men blew their trumpets, "Jehovah set the sword of one against the other, and against the whole camp," i.e., caused one to turn his sword against the other and against all the camp, that is to say, not merely man against man, but against every one in the camp, so that there arose a terrible slaughter throughout the whole camp. The first clause, "and the three hundred blew the trumpets," simply resumes the statement in Jdg 7:20, "the three companies blew the trumpets," for the purpose of appending to it the further progress of the attack, and the result of the battle. Bertheau inserts in a very arbitrary manner the words, "the second time." His explanation of the next clause ("…
Jews, The · Often distinguished in war — Often distinguished in war
Midianites · Miraculously defeated and destroyed by Gideon — Miraculously defeated and destroyed by Gideon
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Gideon: Midianites destroyed — Gideon: Midianites destroyed
Panic · From God — From God
Strategy · In war — In war
Sword, The · Was used: By heathen nations — Was used: By heathen nations
Tabbath · A place of uncertain lo — A place of uncertain lo
Trumpet · By Gi — By Gi
Valleys · Often the scenes of great contests — Often the scenes of great contests
Zererath · A district of uncertain lo — A district of uncertain lo
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
