He taught. — Literally, made to know (Proverbs 10:9); but דע may be a misreading for ישׂ “he threshed,” as in Judges 6:7. (Vulg. contrivit atque comminuit.)
The men of Succoth. — i.e., the elders. Gideon would be well aware that in an Oriental city the mass of the people have no voice in any decision. Ewald takes it to mean, “By them (the slain elders) he taught the (rest of the) people of Succoth to be wiser in future.”