Completion of the Victory

With their Midianite oppressors decimated and fleeing thanks to the hand of God, the Israelites now must engage in true warfare. Men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, the same tribes that were summoned before (except for Zebulun, Judg. 6:35), come together to pursue the retreating enemy. No doubt many of these who now take up arms were among the soldiers dismissed from Gideon’s army because of their fear (which has now been relieved due to the initial victory) or for kneeling to drink. Furthermore, Gideon now summons the Ephraimites, sending swift messengers to urge this tribe to capture the watering places and the fords of the Jordan that lie along the path of the retreating Midianites, cutting them off and hindering their escape. This they do, with notable success—they capture and kill two princes of Midian, bringing their heads back to Gideon.

But they come not just with trophies but with a complaint. “ ‘Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?’ ” they ask, and the text says they reprimand him sharply. Gideon’s failure to summon them initially has offended them in some way. It appears that the tribe of Ephraim, who was the younger brother of Manasseh but who was given primacy over his sibling (Gen. 48:14–19; Deut. 33:17), is speaking out of jealousy over its God-given privilege. They believe they should have had the honor of leading Israel’s attack on Midian, not a Manassehite such as Gideon. Of course, they seem not to understand that Gideon did not appoint himself leader. “Gideon was called of God, and must act as he directed; he neither took the honor to himself nor did he himself dispose of honors, but left it to God,” Matthew Henry writes. “So … the Ephraimites, in this quarrel, reflected upon the divine conduct.”

To his great credit, Gideon gives a most humble answer to this undeserved reproach. He points out that the Ephraimites’ short participation was more fruitful than his own, for they have captured and slain two princes of Midian, thanks to the God of Israel. “ ‘What was I able to do in comparison with you?’ ” he asks. He understands that the slaughter of the Midianites was not his doing; all he really has done to this point is sound a trumpet. And his self-effacement calms the jealous Ephraimites.