Judges 8:1-5: a reflection

1The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us when you went to fight with Midian?” They rebuked him sharply. 2He said to them, “What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb! What was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that. 4Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. 5He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

The men of Ephraim come to Gideon angry, complaining sharply that he did not call them to the battle sooner. It is a hostile confrontation, wounded pride looking for a fight. And Gideon, who had every reason to be defensive, responds with disarming humility. What have I done in comparison with you? he says. Is not the gleaning of Ephraim's grapes better than the full vintage of my clan? God gave the greater victory into your hands. And, the text says, their anger against him subsided when he said this.

Notice how Gideon defused the conflict. He did not match their anger with anger, or defend his honor, or list his own achievements. He humbled himself and credited them, magnifying their part and minimizing his own. A soft, gracious answer, freely giving away credit, took the heat out of the confrontation, where a defensive or proud response would have inflamed it.

There is practical wisdom here for the angry confrontations we all face. The instinct, when someone comes at us aggrieved and hostile, is to defend ourselves, to counter their complaint, to insist on our own rightness, and it almost always makes things worse. Gideon shows a better way: humility that credits the other, a soft answer that turns away wrath. It costs some pride, but it makes peace. When someone comes at you in anger, consider Gideon. Do not fan the fire with defensiveness; disarm it with a humble, gracious answer.

Lord, when someone comes at me angry and aggrieved, my instinct is to defend myself and counter their complaint, which only fans the fire. Give me Gideon's humility, to respond with a soft, gracious answer that credits the other rather than insisting on my own rightness. Help me make peace where I could inflame conflict, at the cost of a little pride.