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Context No. 453 of 4322 · Judges

Context · Reflection

Judges 8:6-17: in context

6The princes of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7Gideon said, “Therefore when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” 10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword. 11Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army; for the army felt secure. 12Zebah and Zalmunna fled and he pursued them. He took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and confused all the army. 13Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. 14He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him; and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men. 15He came to the men of Succoth, and said, “See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” 16He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.

Gideon is in the middle of a grueling pursuit. He and his three hundred men have routed the main Midianite army and are now chasing the two fleeing kings, and they are, the text keeps emphasizing, exhausted, faint yet pursuing. He comes to the town of Succoth and asks a simple thing: some loaves of bread for my weary men. And the officials of Succoth refuse, with a sneer. Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your grip, they ask, that we should give bread to your army? The town of Penuel answers him the same way. Their refusal is not really about bread. It is about hedging. Gideon has not won yet; the kings are still at large; the outcome is uncertain. And these towns do not want to commit to his side while it might still go wrong. If Gideon loses, they do not want to be found having helped the loser. So they withhold support from their own kinsmen fighting the common enemy, and wait to see who wins before taking a side.

That is the cowardice the passage exposes, and it is a very common one. It is the refusal to support a good cause, or the people doing the hard and costly work of it, until you are sure it will succeed and it is safe to be associated with the winner. Succoth and Penuel were not enemies of Israel; they were simply unwilling to spend anything, even a few loaves of bread, on a struggle whose result was still in doubt. They wanted to back the victor once the victory was secure and risk-free. And it is worth noting, soberly, that the pursuit had hardened Gideon too; the man who earlier answered an insult with grace now answered these towns with brutal vengeance. Success can coarsen even a humble leader.

But the searching question the towns raise is about me. When there is a good, hard fight going on, and the people fighting it are weary and the outcome is not yet certain, do I help them at some cost to myself, or do I hold back and hedge, waiting to see whether they will win before I am willing to be associated with them? Where am I withholding my bread from those doing the difficult, uncertain, worthy work, unwilling to commit until it is safe and the winner is already clear?

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