And the men of Ephraim said to him, What is this thing thou hast done to us, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with Midian? And they disputed with him sharply.
Midian had been routed, and the next battle Gideon faced came from inside Israel. One writer notes that this second kind of trouble is the harder of the two, and that Gideon handled it very differently from the way he handled outright hostility later in the chapter:
Once Midian was overcome, Gideon had to meet another difficulty of a different kind: the opposition of those who count as his friends. This opposition takes more wisdom to overcome than the opposition of open enemies. The men of Ephraim scold him for not calling them to the battle. With them he takes the lower place — the place of grace. That is the true, wise and godly position to hold toward those who want to be noticed. Gideon could have replied that God had specially called and chosen him and the three hundred; but he does not.
Ephraim's complaint was not about strategy. It grew out of a place of honour they had lost:
The men of Ephraim contended with Gideon. In Deborah's time they had held the place of honour (Judges 5:14). But since then there had been decline. Gideon, taught by God, had not summoned them, and they had fallen to second rank. This difference made them jealous of what the Lord had entrusted to their companions. They envied the energy of faith and its results in others. "What is this that you have done to us?" Ephraim, taken up with his own importance, thinks of himself instead of thinking of God. This is a frequent source of strife between believers. Such quarrels are far more painful and trying than conflict with the world.
Another writer traces church quarrels to the same self-seeking, and names the cure:
The internal strife was born in selfishness. Ephraim scolded him sharply because he had not called them to the fight. Gideon's wise and gracious answer turned aside the threatening split. How beautifully it illustrates Philippians 2:1-5. All church quarrels begin with self-seeking vainglory. The remedy is "in humility count others more significant than yourselves."
One writer hears the same complaint today, and puts the fault on those who hung back:
This is just what the half-hearted Christian does. He is very angry at not being associated with those who are wholehearted. But whose fault is it? Whenever there is any energy of the Spirit of God working in the church, such people speak like the men of Ephraim: "Why not have taken us with you?" Faith's answer is very simple. "Because then we would have had to go on your ground. What we have to do is to go wherever the Lord leads. We cannot stop to make deals and agreements." No Christian has a right to stop on his way for another; he must go forward himself in individual faithfulness. The effort to drag others along with us is really only a device of Satan to keep ourselves back.
Gideon's reply grew out of a lesson God had already taught him:
God had made him understand that his courage and strength did not come from himself. He had also shown him that Gideon's sword, by itself, was worth as little as a loaf of barley bread. So in Ephraim's presence, the servant the Lord had used for this great deliverance took care not to speak of himself. He gave his attention to what God had done through his brothers. "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?" He took the lowest place and acknowledged the zeal for God they had shown. Let us act the same way. When we speak of our brothers, let us list not their failures but what God has worked in them.
Ephraim's pride broke out twice in this period, and the two outbursts ended differently:
As descendants of Joseph, Ephraim seems always to have aspired to leadership in the nation. Already in the time of the Judges that pride had twice broken out in haughty behaviour. Gideon's little band won a mighty victory over the Midianites. Then the men of Ephraim scolded him sharply for not calling them to the war, because they envied the fame of such a victory. Gideon's most gracious answer to their haughty scolding prevented a disaster (Judges 8:1-3). Later they scolded Jephthah even more haughtily, and that brought on Ephraim a terrible, though deserved, punishment (chapter 12:1-6).
- Pride starts it. Ephraim had slipped from the place of honour. Their question was jealousy of what God had entrusted to others.
- Friends wound deepest. Opposition from friends takes more wisdom to overcome than the attacks of open enemies.
- Half-heartedness complains. "Why not take us with you?" is the voice of those who would not go. Faith goes where the Lord leads and strikes no bargains.
- Humility disarms. Gideon did not defend himself. He named what God had done through his accusers, counting others more significant than himself.
- The outcome proves it. A gracious answer prevented disaster here. The same pride, met later by Jephthah, brought Ephraim a terrible punishment.
And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer?
Gideon has just crushed Midian with three hundred men. Now the tribe of Ephraim turns on him with sharp words for not calling them to the fight. His reply does not defend his own record. It praises theirs — and the question is why.
Gideon answers with a picture from the vineyard. His reply rests on a rule in Israel's law about who gets the leftovers, and on the name of his own clan.
At the harvest and the grape harvest, the law strictly forbade owners to glean their own fields. They always had to leave what was left for the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10; Leviticus 23:22; Ruth 2:2-23). Gideon calmed Ephraim's anger by saying, "Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?" Abiezer was Gideon's family name (Judges 8:2).
Gideon calls Ephraim's scraps a better crop than his own full harvest. One commentator points out that this was not mere flattery. It was true.
It is admirable to find a man who knows how to calm ruffled feelings. He does it even for those who did little to secure the victory. These men of Ephraim did help, and Gideon only said what was quite true. Everybody knows that an army loses far more men when the battle turns than while it rages. Only a few fall during the fighting itself. Once it becomes a flight, the dead may be very many.
Ephraim's complaint was not about strategy. They had held the front rank in an earlier generation, and losing it stung.
In Deborah's day they had held the place of honour (Judges 5:14). But since then there had been decline, and Gideon, taught by God, had not called them out. They had dropped to second rank. That difference made them jealous of what the Lord had entrusted to their companions. They were jealous of the energy of faith, and of what it produced in others. Ephraim, taken up with his own importance, thinks of himself instead of thinking of God. This is a frequent source of strife between believers. Such quarrels are far more painful and trying than conflict with the world.
Another writer puts it more sharply. The men who complained had heard the same trumpet as everyone else.
All this was uncalled for and unworthy. Had they not heard the sound of the trumpet calling Israel to the battlefield? Had they not heard that the battle flag was flying? Why had they not rushed to the fight at the start? It was an easy thing to come in at the close and gather the spoil. It was easy then to find fault with the one who had been God's real instrument.
Gideon could have argued his case. Instead he says nothing about himself. What silences the attack is not evidence but self-abasement.
Here is the true way to overcome jealous and envious brothers. The barley cake and the empty pitcher can defeat jealous Ephraimites as well as hostile Midianites. A self-hiding spirit is the great secret of victory over envy and jealousy in all their ugly forms. It is difficult, if not impossible, to quarrel with a man who is down in the dust in true self-abasement. "What have I done now in comparison with you?" That is the language of someone who had learned something of the real meaning of self-surrender.
This is where Gideon's earlier training pays off, and it turns into a rule for how we speak about each other.
God had made Gideon understand that his courage and strength did not come from himself, and that his sword, in itself, was worth as little as a cake of barley bread. So, standing in front of Ephraim, he took care not to speak of himself. He gave his attention to what God had done through the hands of his brothers... He took the lowest place. He recognised the zeal for God that they had shown, after all, to their credit. So the humility of this servant of God removes a great difficulty. Let us act in the same way, and when we speak of our brothers, let us count up not their failures but what God has worked in them.
The soft answer worked — their anger cooled. But writers observe that calming a quarrel is not the same as curing it. Ephraim brought the same complaint against Jephthah, who led Israel later.
Gideon's humility had calmed him the first time. But nothing had reached his conscience, and he had never judged himself. So he brought the same accusations against Jephthah. A fault in our Christian life left unjudged will show up again sooner or later in similar circumstances.
- Gleaning. Gideon calls Ephraim's leftovers better than his own full harvest. A fleeing army loses more men than a fighting one, so the compliment was also true.
- Jealousy. Ephraim's anger came from losing first place. Quarrels among God's people start when a man thinks of his own importance instead of God.
- Self-hiding. Gideon answers with no defence at all. You cannot pick a fight with someone already in the dust.
- Speech. The cure he models is practical: when you talk about others, count what God has done in them, not what they failed at.
- Unfinished. The anger cooled, but the pride was never judged. Ephraim made the same complaint again to Jephthah later on.
Into your hands hath God delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their spirit was appeased toward him, when he said that word.
Gideon has just crushed Midian with three hundred men. Now the men of Ephraim confront him in anger, because he did not call them to the fight. His reply in this verse hands them the credit for capturing Oreb and Zeeb — and the quarrel dies on the spot.
Ephraim complained only after the danger had passed. Gideon's reply met them kindly, and it was also true to the facts of how a battle ends:
Many who had no heart for the work when everything looked dark are quick to complain about the conquerors… It is wonderful to find someone who knows how to handle irritated tempers, even in people who have done little to secure the victory. These men of Ephraim no doubt helped, and Gideon only said what was quite true. Everyone knows, I suppose, that an army loses far more men when the battle turns and it flees than while the fighting rages. Few fall during the struggle; many are cut down once it becomes a rout. So we can see how Gideon's mild answer might be strictly true. But we do well to weigh how lowly it was. The man who bore the brunt and faced all the danger was willing to take the least place and give the highest place to others, now that God had worked for His people. Sadly, it is as sweet as it is rare.
Oreb and Zeeb were two Midianite leaders. Ephraim caught and killed them at the Jordan crossings, and their names carry a picture:
It is neither wise nor right to belittle the work of Ephraim. Oreb and Zeeb — "Raven" and "Wolf" — the princes of Midian had fallen at their hands at the fords of the Jordan. These names suggest the destructive character of that world whose "prince" spares nobody.
He had a strong case in reserve and left it unused:
They did not stop to consider that it was God who ordered the assault on Midian. They likely did not know that God had cut the army down to 300 instead of enlarging it by adding Ephraim. Gideon could have pointed these things out to them. Instead he took the wiser way: a soft answer that turned away their anger.
What beat Midian's army also beats a rival's envy:
Here, Christian reader, is the true way to overcome jealous and envious fellow believers. The barley loaf and the empty jar can defeat jealous Ephraimites as well as hostile Midianites. A self-hiding spirit is the great secret of victory over envy and jealousy, in all their ugly forms. It is hard, if not impossible, to quarrel with a man who is down in the dust, in true self-humbling.
The man God had just used most is the man who speaks most gently:
Where the power of God is most at work, there is always the deepest grace, and the awareness that all that we are, we are by the grace of God… Gideon values others above himself. Nothing hinders blessing, personal or shared, like a feeling of being superior to others… Gideon puts himself and his three hundred in the shade, and brings the victory of the men of Ephraim into the light… It is a blessing when we can sink ourselves, so that others may come to the front. If anyone quarrels with us, let us seek grace to go down, take the lowest place, and give them credit.
Ephraim later brought the same complaint to Jephthah. The outcome shows what Gideon's answer spared Israel:
In Gideon's case a soft answer turned away wrath. Jephthah went straight on the defense. He told Ephraim, in effect, that he had expected them to rescue Israel from the Ammonites. When they failed to do this, he risked his own life and attacked the Ammonites, and God gave them into his hands. So Jephthah made it clear to them that they were in the wrong. But people rarely take it well when someone proves them wrong, and here it led straight into conflict.
Commentators differ on how far this is a rule for every dispute. One writer sets a limit to it: "Some cases we must meet and deal with in grace. In other cases we must contend earnestly for the faith" (The Bible Treasury).
- Down — Gideon goes low first. No one can pick a quarrel with a man already in the dust.
- Credit — He hands Ephraim their true share. God gave them Oreb and Zeeb — "Raven" and "Wolf" — at the Jordan.
- Withheld — He also held back his winning argument: God Himself had cut the army to three hundred.
- Cooled — Anger dies and the camp holds together. Jephthah met the same complaint, proved his point, and got a war.
- Source — Where God's power works most, grace runs deepest. Nothing blocks blessing like feeling above others.