Bible Commentaries
Judges 8

Verses 1-35

Following the deliverance from the oppression of Midian, Gideon had to deal with internal troubles. The people of Ephraim objected that he had not called them to his help. The men of Succoth and Penuel had refused help in an hour of crisis. Gideon's method with Ephraim was conciliatory and that with the men of Succoth and Penuel was severe.

The last things we read about Gideon are full of interest: one is characterized by great nobility, the other is a revelation of weakness which issued in trouble. When the people virtually desired to make him king, he refused and in his refusal manifested his disinterestedness and his recognition that God was sufficient as King. On the other hand, his making of an ephod suggests that he took to himself some of the functions of the priesthood. While this was probably done out of a sense of the religious failure of the people, the effect produced was evil and resulted in deterioration of the character of Gideon himself.