And Gideon came to Jordan. — This verse resumes the narrative of Judges 7:23. The intermediate verses are an episode, and they are only here introduced by anticipation, in order to close the notice about the tribe of Ephraim.
And passed over. — Literally, passing over; but the English Version is correct as to the meaning, and it may be regarded as certain that Succoth was to the east of Jordan.
Faint, yet pursuing. — It may be doubted whether the usual application of these words is accurate. The LXX. render them, “fainting and hungry,” and the Vulg., “and for weariness they could not overtake the fugitives.” Literally it is, faint and pursuing, where the and is explanatory. “Exhausted and pursuing,” 1 e., exhausted with pursuing (Keil). “In 1815 Mehemet All pursued the Arabs with such haste as to find himself without provisions, and had to be content with a few dates; but the result was a great success” (Ritter xii. 932).