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Zebah and Zalmunna

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zē´ba ( זבח , zebhaḥ , "victim"), zal - mun´a ( צלמנּע , calmunnā‛ , "protection refused"): Two Midianite kings or chiefs whom Gideon slew ( Judges 8:4-21; Psalm 83:11 (Hebrew text, verse 12)). The name zebhaḥ (Ζέβεε , Zébee ) is very much like that of ze'ēbh (Ζήβ , Zḗb , "Zeeb" in the Septuagint). Moore (Judgess , 220) says that calmunnā‛ is probably "a genuine Midianite name"; Noldeke conjectured that it contains that of a deity (צלם , c (a )lm ), and a compound form צלמשזב , clmshzbh , is found in an inscription from Teimā , a place East of the Midianite capital (Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum , II, cxiii f).

The narrative of Judges 8:4-21 is not to be connected with that of Judges 8:1-3 . Budde (Kurzer Hand-Comm. z. Altes Testament , XXII ) would join Judges 8:4 to Judges 6:34; Moore (ICC ) following Budde's earlier work (1890) would connect it with a part of Judges 7:22 , describing the direction of the flight, while Nowack (Hand-Komm .) regards the battle of Judges 8:11 as the same as that of Judges 7:11 if; he then takes the latter part of Judges 8:11 to refer to the place of the camp at night. There are many difficulties in forming a natural connection for the verses. It may be noted that in Judges 8:18 f Gideon is not "the least in my father's house," as he represents himself to be in Judges 6:15 .

The whole section tells of a daring raid made by Gideon upon the Midianites. Some of his own kin had been slain by Midianite hordes at Ophrah (Judges 8:18 f), and, stirred by this, Gideon went in hot pursuit with 300 men ( Judges 8:4 ). He requested provisions for his men from the people of Succoth and Penuel, but was refused this. He then went on and caught the Midianites unawares at Karkor (Judges 8:10 ) and captured their two chiefs. He then had his revenge on the two towns, and returned probably to his home with the two notable prisoners. These he determined to slay to avenge the death of his own kinsmen, and called upon his eldest son to perform this solemn public duty that he owed to the dead. His son, apparently only a boy, hesitated, and he did the deed himself. W. R. Smith (Lectures on the Religion of the Semites , 2nd edition, 417, note) compares with this call to Gideon's son the choice of young men or lads as sacrificers in Exodus 24:5 , and says that the Saracens also charged lads with the execution of their captives.

The narrative reminds one of David's romantic life in 1 Samuel 25; 1 Samuel 27:1-12; 30. It is throughout a characteristic picture of the life of the early Hebrews in Palestine, for whom it was a sacred duty to avenge the dead. It affords a splendid illustration of what is meant by the spirit of Yahweh coming upon, or rather "clothing itself with" (Revised Version margin) Gideon (Judges 6:34 ); compare also Saul's call to action (1 Samuel 11:1-11 ), and also Jdg 19 f.