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1. Location of the Israeli and Midian camps. 2–8. Choosing and equipping Israelite soldiers. 9–15. Gideon's secret visit to the camp of Midian. 16–22. Gideon's attack on the Midianite camp and its defeat. 23–25. Persecution of the Midianites. Judges 7:1. Jerubbaal, who was also Gideon, arose in the morning and all the people who were with him, and they encamped at the fountain of Harod; the Midian camp was north of him near the hill of More in the valley. The Israelites settled down at the source of Harod (1 Samuel 29:1), which is at the foot of the Gilboa mountains, east of the Ezdrelon Valley, and the Midianites - north of it, at the hill of Moreh, or Little Hermon. Judges 7:2. And the Lord said to Gideon, There are too many people with you; I cannot deliver the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel become proud before Me and say, “My hand has saved me.” Judges 7:3. Therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people and say: “Let him who is fearful and timid return and go back from Mount Gilead.” And the people returned twenty-two thousand, but ten thousand remained. Judges 7:4. And the Lord said to Gideon, There are still many people; lead them to the water, there I will choose them for you; of whom I say, “Let him go with you,” let him go with you; but of whom I tell you, “He must not go with you,” let him not go. Judges 7:5. He led the people to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon: Whoever laps up water with his tongue, as a dog laps up, set him apart, and also all those who bend down on their knees and drink. Judges 7:6. And the number of those who lapped with their mouths from the hand was three hundred people; all the rest of the people bent down on their knees to drink water. Judges 7:7. And the Lord said to Gideon: With three hundred of those who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands, and let all the people go, each to his own place. Judges 7:8. And they took the food supply from the people for themselves and their pipes, and Gideon sent all the Israelites away to their tents and kept three hundred people with him; and his Midian camp was down in the valley. In order for the Israelites to see more clearly the saving help of the Lord, whose salvation is connected not with the quantity, but with the quality of its performers, the Lord commanded Gideon to make a special selection of soldiers who would go with him against the enemy. After such a choice, out of the entire detachment of 32,000 soldiers, only 300 soldiers remained with Gideon, while the rest were released to their homes. With such a small detachment, Gideon could decide to fight a numerous enemy only thanks to his firm faith in God’s help, which is why St. ap. Paul calls him the one who conquered through his faith (Heb. 11:32–33). Judges 7:9. That night the Lord said to him: Arise, go down to the camp, I will deliver it into your hands; Judges 7:10. if you are afraid to go alone, then go to the camp, you and Thura your servant; Judges 7:11. and you will hear what they say, and then your hands will be strengthened, and you will go into the camp. And he and Thuras his servant went down to the very regiment of the armed men who were in the camp. Judges 7:12. the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the inhabitants of the east settled down in the valley in such a multitude as locusts; There were no number of camels; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Judges 7:13. Gideon has arrived. And so, one tells the other a dream and says: I dreamed that round barley bread was rolling through the camp of Midian and, rolling towards the tent, hit it so that it fell, knocked it over, and the tent fell apart. Judges 7:14. Another answered him, “This is none other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, an Israelite; God delivered the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands. Judges 7:15. Gideon, having heard the story of the dream and its interpretation, worshiped [the Lord] and returned to the camp of Israel and said: Arise! The Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands. Before entering the battle, Gideon and his servant entered the Midian camp at night, which was located in a valley and was visible from the Gilboa Mountains, where Gideon’s detachment was located. Here he overheard two warriors discussing the meaning of a dream one of them had seen, after which he was fully convinced that God would grant him victory. The peoples of the East, as the history of Joseph, Daniel and others shows, generally believed in the meaning of dreams. Judges 7:16. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and put trumpets and empty jars and lamps in the jars into the hands of all of them. Judges 7:17. And he said to them: Look at me and do the same; Behold, I will come to the camp, and whatever I do, do you also; Judges 7:18. When I and those with me blow the trumpet, you also blow your trumpets around the whole camp and shout: [the sword of] the Lord and Gideon! Judges 7:19. And Gideon and a hundred men with him came to the camp, at the beginning of the middle watch, and they awakened the guards, and blew the trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. Judges 7:20. And all three companies blew trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held lamps in their left hands, and trumpets in their right hands, and blew and shouted: “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” Judges 7:21. And everyone stood in his place around the camp; and they began to run throughout the whole camp, and shouted, and took to flight. Judges 7:22. While three hundred men were blowing trumpets, the Lord turned the sword of one against another in the whole camp, and the army fled to Bethshitta to Tsarera, to the border of Abelmeholah, near Tabatha. Like Abraham during his attack on the armies of the kings of Shinar and Elam (cf. Gen. 14:15), Gideon divided his army into three parts and attacked the camp of Midian during the middle watch, i.e. at midnight, when the enemy camp was in deep sleep. The appearance of mysterious people with luminous torches in the camp, the crash of breaking jugs and the cry of Gideon’s soldiers caused panic in the Midianite camp, and they fled, beating each other. Most of them headed south along the Ezdrelon valley to the town of Betschitta, indicated in modern El-Shatta, near the stream flowing into the water of Jalud and further to Abel-Meholah (cf. 1 Kings 19:16), which, according to Jerome, lay 10 Roman miles north of Scythopolis (Beth-Sana). The location of Ceres (probably Cered) and Tabbah mentioned in the description of the flight of the Midianites is unknown. History presents several other examples of strategic ploys employed by Gideon. The Falisci brought fear to the Roman army through men who had torches and snakes instead of weapons. The Vesti and Fidenae did the same (Tit. Liv. XXII, 16; Sallust Jugurtha, 99). Judges 7:23. And the Israelites were called together from the tribe of Naphtali, Asher, and all the tribe of Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites. Judges 7:24. Gideon sent messengers to all Mount Ephraim to say: Go out to meet the Midianites and seize their crossing of the water to Bethwara and the Jordan. And all the Ephraimites were called together and seized the crossings of the water to Bethbarah and Jordan; Judges 7:25. and they caught the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zibah, and killed Oreb in Zur-Orib, and Zibah ​​in Jekeb-zibah, and pursued the Midianites; The heads of Oreb and Zib were brought to Gideon across the Jordan. the Israelites of the nearest tribes, who appeared at the call of Gideon, pursuing the fleeing enemies, intercepted the crossing of the Jordan (Beth-Bara, or “place of the ford” (across the Jordan), or, according to Jerome, “place of the spring” (Onom 106, 12), cf. John 1:28, south of Scythopolis) and killed many here Midianites Among those killed were the Midian princes Oreb and Ziv. This defeat of the Midianites in subsequent history was called the “day of Midian” (Isa.9:4, 10:26; Hab.3:7, Ps.83:10, 12). You might be interested in: