With them he taught the men of Succoth He tore their flesh with these thorns, (as he had threatened, Judges 8:7.) It is not said that he tormented them till they expired, and therefore he perhaps only put them to torture for some time; but if he put them to death, then the expression, with them he taught the men of Succoth, must mean, that he made their death an example to the rest of the inhabitants, to terrify them from such ungenerous behaviour for the future. “As their crime was the same,” says Dr. Dodd, “as that of the men of Penuel, it seems likely that it was a punishment unto death. However severe, this chastisement was just. In refusing Gideon the succour which he demanded for the troops employed to save the state, they rendered themselves guilty of a species of rebellion; they sinned against the laws of humanity; they joined insult to their cruelty; and their refusal, unworthy a people who had any respect for religion, and any love for their country, merited a more public chastisement; as otherwise their example might have proved contagious, and have defeated all the good effects of Gideon's government.” He slew the men of the city Not all of them; probably only those who had affronted him.
Related Commentaries of Judges 8:16
Judges 8:16-17
16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taughte the men of Succoth.
17 And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.