(21) Rise thou, and fall upon us.--They deprecated the pain and shame of falling by the irresolute hands of a boy.
For as the man . . . his strength.--Deuteronomy 33:25. "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
Ornaments.--Saharonim, "little moons," crescent-shaped ornaments of gold and silver, still in common use to decorate animals. Isaiah 3:18, "round tires like the moon." "Niveo lunata monilia dente" (Stat. Theb. ix. 689). After one of his battles Mohammed found a slain camel adorned with these lunul? and with strings of emeralds. The Roman senators (for another reason) wore silver crescents on their shoes.
Verse 21. - The ornaments. Literally, little moons, crescent-shaped ornaments of gold and silver, which as well as "chains" (ver. 26) were hung as ornaments on their camels' necks (cf. Judges 5:30). It would seem from ver. 26 that the kings themselves also wore these ornaments; and in Isaiah 3:18 they are enumerated among the articles of female attire - round tires like the moon, A.V.
8:18-21 The kings of Midian must be reckoned with. As they confessed themselves guilty of murder, Gideon acted as the avenger of blood, being the next of kin to the persons slain. Little did they think to have heard of this so long after; but murder seldom goes unpunished in this life. Sins long forgotten by man, must be accounted for to God. What poor consolation in death from the hope of suffering less pain, and of dying with less disgrace than some others! yet many are more anxious on these accounts, than concerning the future judgment, and what will follow.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, rise thou and fall upon us,.... Since they must die, they chose rather to die by the hand of so great a man and valiant a commander as Gideon, which was more honourable than to die by the hand of a youth:
for as the man is, so is his strength; signifying, that as he was a stout able man, he had strength sufficient to dispatch them at once, which his son had not, and therefore they must have died a lingering and painful death: wherefore as they consulted their honour, so their ease, in desiring to die by the hand of Gideon:
and Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna; nor was it unusual in those early times for great personages, as judges and generals, to be executioners of others, as were Samuel and Benaiah, 1 Samuel 15:33.
and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks; the Targum calls them chains, as in Judges 8:26 no doubt of gold; so the horses of King Latinus (b) had golden poitrels or collars hanging down their breasts. They were, according to Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Gersom, in the form of the moon; see Isaiah 3:18 some have thought that these were worn in honour of Astarte, or the moon, the goddess of the Phoenicians, from whom these people had borrowed that idolatry.
For as the man . . . his strength.--Deuteronomy 33:25. "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
Ornaments.--Saharonim, "little moons," crescent-shaped ornaments of gold and silver, still in common use to decorate animals. Isaiah 3:18, "round tires like the moon." "Niveo lunata monilia dente" (Stat. Theb. ix. 689). After one of his battles Mohammed found a slain camel adorned with these lunul? and with strings of emeralds. The Roman senators (for another reason) wore silver crescents on their shoes.
CHAPTER 8:22-35
for as the man is, so is his strength; signifying, that as he was a stout able man, he had strength sufficient to dispatch them at once, which his son had not, and therefore they must have died a lingering and painful death: wherefore as they consulted their honour, so their ease, in desiring to die by the hand of Gideon:
and Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna; nor was it unusual in those early times for great personages, as judges and generals, to be executioners of others, as were Samuel and Benaiah, 1 Samuel 15:33.
and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks; the Targum calls them chains, as in Judges 8:26 no doubt of gold; so the horses of King Latinus (b) had golden poitrels or collars hanging down their breasts. They were, according to Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Gersom, in the form of the moon; see Isaiah 3:18 some have thought that these were worn in honour of Astarte, or the moon, the goddess of the Phoenicians, from whom these people had borrowed that idolatry.
(b) Virg. Aeneid. l. 7. v. 278.