And with them he taught the men of Succoth— He threatened in the 7th verse to tear their flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with briars, which Le Clerc there renders, then will I thresh their flesh, &c. and here for and with them he taught, &c. he reads, and made an example of them to the men of Succoth. But there is nobody, says Houbigant, conversant in the style of Scripture, who can doubt that דשׁתי dashti, I will tear, being read in the 7th verse, the true reading here is, וידשׁ vaiidash, and he tore, and not וידע vaiiodang, and he taught, as we now read. What gives the greatest confirmation to this conjecture is, that the ancient versions, with one consent, agree in this reading. It is doubtful what kind of punishment it was that Gideon inflicted upon the princes of Succoth; but as their crime was the same as that of the men of Penuel, there seems to be no doubt that it was a punishment unto death. However severe, this chastisement was just. In refusing Gideon the succours 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 of a people who had any respect for religion, and any love of 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. See Scheuchzer on the place.
REFLECTIONS.—Though the battle is won, and a vast slaughter already made of one hundred and twenty thousand men of war, yet the sword of Gideon cannot rest whilst Zeba and Zalmunna, with fifteen thousand men, are still alive in Karkor. We have therefore,
1. His hot pursuit of them. With his three hundred men, not one of whom was missing, he passes Jordan; and, since God had so eminently supported him, seeks no other assistance: though faint with watching, want of food, and fatigue, he slacks not his pace, nor is discouraged with the refusal of refreshment that he met with at Succoth or Penuel, but continues his march; and, having taken a compass out of the strait road, he surprised the fugitive Midianites, who thought themselves secure, and beyond the possibility of being overtaken. As before, they seek their safety in flight; and when most of them are slain, their two kings remain prisoners with the conquerors. Note; (1.) Though in our spiritual warfare our flesh and heart often seem ready to fail, we must be still looking up for strength, and persevere. (2.) Those from whom we might expect the most cordial assistance, often, like the men of Succoth and Penuel, seek to weaken our hands and discourage our hearts. (3.) Patient perseverance will infallibly be crowned with success.
2. His heavy chastisement of his unnatural countrymen, according to his threatening when they refused to assist him with provisions in the pursuit; his request was small, he asked only a few loaves of bread; his necessities were urgent, and his deserts at the hand of every Israelite such as entitled him to their best entertainment; but they, whether afraid of the resentment of the Midianites, or led, from the smallness of Gideon's forces, to treat his attempt as rash and desperate, not only shut up their bowels of compassion from him as a brother, but ridiculed his vain pursuit, as they conceived it, casting contempt on his faith in God. Justly incensed at such treatment, where not himself was more injured than God dishonoured, he had threatened to visit them; and, though he could not then interrupt his march to chastise their insolence, now that he is returned he will do it more deliberately and severely. Accordingly, having gained intelligence of the chief men at whose instigation he had been so used, he seizes their cities and persons: after upbraiding them with their baseness, and shewing them the captive kings in chains, as he had threatened, he scourged those of Succoth with thorns and briers, that, by this correction, they might know their folly and their sin, whilst the men of Penuel were put to the sword, and their fortress demolished. Note; (1.) They who sin will smart for it, either now under the rod of correction, or eternally under the wrath of God. (2.) It is no new thing to have the world ridicule the pursuits of God's people; but they who counted their lives madness, will shortly see that the folly was in themselves. (3.) In the severest chastisement, God means not our destruction, but correction: happy they who acknowledge God's hand, and correspond with the designs of his grace.