And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
He divided the three hundred men. The object of dividing his forces was, that they might seem to be surrounding the enemy.
He put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. The law prescribed to the Israelites the employment of trumpets in battle with their enemies; and the Lord, on the blast of them, remembered His people (Numbers 10:9). Gideon, therefore, provided them, as of indispensable importance, apart from his strategic device. The pitchers were empty, to conceal the torches, and made of earthenware, so as to be easily broken. "Lamps" х lapidiym (H3940)] - rendered in our version sometimes "firebrands," and at other times, as here, "lamps." Large splinters of wood, either of a resinous nature in themselves, or artificially prepared, are made use of in the Levant, instead of flambeaux; and if these are in use now, when great improvements have been made in all the arts of life, it is natural to suppose they were used anciently, particularly by the common people. If the peasants, and those who were abroad at night, as shepherds and travelers, who wanted light, made use of this kind of torches, it can be no wonder that Gideon should be able, with so much ease, to procure 300 of them for 300 men that he retained with him; or that they should continue burning some considerable time in their pitchers.