Bible Commentaries
Judges 7

Verses 1-25

Judges 7:13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.

Judges 7:13 “a cake of barley bread” - Comments - Barley was considered an inferior grain in this culture, a grain that the poor would have used. This is seen in the writings of Eusebius (A.D. 260 to 340). Note:

“Many, indeed, secretly sold their possessions for one measure of wheat, if they belonged to the wealthier class, of barley if they were poorer.” ( Ecclesiastical History 3.6.5) [18]

[18] Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, trans. Arthur C. McGiffert under the title The Church History of Eusebius, in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, A New Series, vol. 1, eds. Henry Wace and Philip Schaff (Oxford: Parker and Company, c1890, 1905), 139.

We see in Revelation 6:6 that wheat sold on the market for three times the price of barley.

Revelation 6:6, “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

In Gideon’s dream, the cake of barley represented Israel, who appeared poor and inferior to the army of the Midianites.

Judges 7:19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.

Judges 7:19 Comments Robert Watson mentions the popular view that the Hebrews divided the night into three watches of four hours each. While the middle and morning watches are clearly mentioned in the Old Testament (Exodus 14:24, Judges 7:19, 1 Samuel 11:11), the first watch goes without mention. [19] The New Testament mentions the custom of the Romans to divide the night into four watches of three hours each (Matthew 14:25, Mark 6:48, Luke 12:38). He believes Gideon would have attacked between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. George Moore estimates the beginning of the middle watch to be around eleven o’clock. [20] The watchman would have just arrived at his post for the middle watch still sleepy and relatively unalert.

[19] Robert A. Watson, Judges and Ruth, in The Expositor’s Bible, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1900), 78.

[20] George Foot Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges, in The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, eds. Charles A. Briggs, Samuel R. Driver, and Alfred Plummer (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910), 209.

Exodus 14:24, “And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,”

1 Samuel 11:11, “And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.”

Matthew 14:25, “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.”

Mark 6:48, “And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.”

Luke 12:38, “And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.”

Judges 7:25 And they took two princes of the Midianites , Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

Judges 7:25 Word Study on “Oreb” BDB says the Hebrew name “Oreb” ( עֹרֵב ) (H6159) means, “raven.”

Judges 7:25 Word Study on “Zeeb” - BDB says the Hebrew name ( זְאֵב ) (H2062) means, “wolf.”