‘ For they came up with their cattle, and their tents, they came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number. And they came in to the land to destroy it.'
They were there as numerous and as devastating as locusts (see Deuteronomy 28:31; Deuteronomy 28:38. This was to be part of the curse on those who disobeyed God's laws). Their cattle ate the growing crops before they then destroyed them, and they burned everything that they found. Their approach was swift and silent on camels, and there were so many that they could not be counted. This is the first mention anywhere of the wide-scale use of camels in warfare, although camels had been domesticated in a small way for centuries. The sole purpose of the invaders was loot and destruction.
‘And Israel were brought very low because of Midian.'
Low in produce, low in possessions, low in cattle and sheep, low in supplies, low in spirits. They were down to rock bottom. For the use of ‘Israel' here before a passive verb see introduction.
‘And the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.'
Recognising at last their folly in treating Yahweh lightly, they once again gathered at the central sanctuary, renewed the covenant, ensured their sacrificial system was working properly, turned from Baal and Asherah, and began to walk in accordance with the law of God. This was all involved in ‘crying to Yahweh'.