Judges — Chapter 8

Gideon answers the angry Ephraimites with a soft and humble reply: \"Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?\" Lapide: a gentle word breaks anger. \"A soft answer turneth away wrath\" (Prov. 15:1). Gideon's modesty and prudence saved Israel from civil war.

Gideon refuses kingship: \"I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.\" Lapide: a truly great man attributes victory and power not to himself but to God. This models the proper disposition of all rulers. The Judges were not hereditary monarchs but instruments of divine Providence.

Gideon makes an Ephod from the golden spoils of Midian. Lapide at length: he did not sin. S. Augustine holds God permitted it so that peace would be maintained; Gideon made it as a perpetual monument of the miraculous victory and to clothe the High Priest for oracular consultation on behalf of Israel. The sin lay with his descendants who gave it divine honours.

After Gideon was dead, the children of Israel returned, and went a whoring after Baalim. The recurring apostasy: as long as the just leader lives and the memory of God's benefits is fresh, the people serve God; but death and time bring forgetfulness and ingratitude. Lapide: the misery of a people deprived of a good shepherd.