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Selected Verse: Judges 8:18 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Jud 8:18 |
King James |
Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor?--This was one of the countless atrocities which the Midianite chiefs had perpetrated during their seven years' lawless occupancy. It is noticed now for the first time when their fate was about to be determined.
each one resembled the children of a king--An Orientalism for great beauty, majesty of appearance, uncommon strength, and grandeur of form. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
| What manner of men - literally, "Where are the men?" The sense, "what manner of men", is merely gathered from the tenor of the answer. Gideon doubtless knew that his brethren had been killed by Zebah and Zalmunna, and the desire of avenging their death was one motive for his impetuous pursuit and attack. His question was rather a taunt, a bitter reproach to his captives, preparing them for their fate. Zebah and Zalmunna, in their answer, did not give evidence against themselves. Their hope was by a flattering answer to soothe Gideon's wrath. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| What manner of men - For outward shape and quality. At Tabor - Whither he understood they fled for shelter, upon the approach of the Midianites; and where he learned that some were slain, which he suspected might be them. Resembled - Not for their garb, or outward splendor, but for the majesty of their looks: by which commendation they thought to ingratiate themselves with their conqueror. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? - We have no antecedent to this question; and are obliged to conjecture one: it seems as if Zebah and Zalmunna had massacred the family of Gideon, while he was absent on this expedition. Gideon had heard some confused account of it, and now questions them concerning the fact. They boldly acknowledge it, and describe the persons whom they slew, by which he found they were his own brethren. This determines him to avenge their death by slaying the Midianitish kings, whom he otherwise was inclined to save. He might have heard that his brethren had been taken prisoners, and might have hoped to have exchanged them for the kings now in his hand; but when he found they had been all slain, he decrees the death of their murderers. There is something in this account similar to that in the 12th Aeneis of Virgil: - When Turnus was overthrown, and supplicated for his life, and Aeneas was inclined to spare him; he saw the belt of his friend Pallas, whom Turnus had slain, and which he now wore as a trophy: this immediately determined the Trojan to sacrifice the life of Turnus to the manes of his friend. The story is well told: -
Stetit acer in armis
Aeneas, volvens oculos, dextramque repressit.
Et jam jamque magis cunctantem flectere sermo
Coeperat: infelix humero cum apparuit ingens
Balteus, et notis fulserunt cingula bullis
Pallantis pueri; victum quem vulnere Turnus
Straverat, atque humeris inimicum insigne gerebat.
Ille oculis postquam saevi monumenta doloris
Exuviasque hausit: furiis accensus et ira
Terribilis: Tune hinc spoliis indute meorum
Eripiare mihi? - Pallas, te hoc vulnere Pallas
Immolat; et poenam scelerato ex sanguine sumit.
Hoc dicens furrum adverso sub pectore condit Fervidus.
Virg. Aen. lib. xii., ver. 938.
"In deep suspense the Trojan seem'd to stand,
And, just prepared to strike, repress'd his hand.
He roll'd his eyes, and every moment felt
His manly soul with more compassion melt.
When, casting down a casual glance, he spied
The golden belt that glitter'd on his side;
The fatal spoils which haughty Turnus tore
From dying Pallas, and in triumph wore.
Then roused anew to wrath, he loudly cries,
(Flames, while he spoke, came flashing from his eyes),
Traitor! dost thou! dost thou to grace pretend,
Clad, as thou art, in trophies of my friend? -
To his sad soul a grateful offering go;
'Tis Pallas, Pallas gives this deadly blow.
He rais'd his arm aloft; and at the word,
Deep in his bosom drove the shining sword."
Dryden.
The same principle impels Gideon to slay Zebah and Zalmunna which induced Aeneas to kill Turnus: and perhaps the ornaments which he took from their camels' necks, Jdg 8:21, were some of the spoils of his slaughtered brethren. |
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks.