Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 7:25

"And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan." — Judges 7:25 (ASV)

Oreb and Zeeb. — The names mean “raven” and “wolf,” but these are common names for warriors among warlike tribes, and there is no reason to view them as names given in scorn by the Israelites. Such names are common among nomads. The capture of these two powerful sheikhs was the result of the second part of the battle and was not accomplished without a terrible slaughter. See Psalms 73:9-12, where the word translated “houses” of God should be “pastures” of God. It is remarkable that in this passage there seems to be almost an identification of the victories of Barak and Gideon, as if they were the result of one great combined movement.

In the phrase “became as the dung of the earth,” we see that tradition preserved a memory of the fertilization of the ground by the dead bodies (see Note on Judges 4:16; Judges 5:21). The completeness of the victory is also alluded to in Isaiah 60:4: “Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden ... as in the day of Midian”; and Isaiah 10:26. The brief narrative of Judges perhaps hardly enables us to realize the three acts of this great tragedy of Midianite slaughter—at Gilboa, the Fords, and Karkor.

Upon the rock Oreb. — Rather, at the raven’s rock. It is mentioned again only in Isaiah 10:26: “according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb.” Reland identifies it with Orbo, near Bethshean.

To Gideon on the other side Jordan. — That is, beyond the Jordan (“trans fluenta Jordani,” Vulgate). This notice is given by anticipation, for Gideon’s crossing the Jordan is not mentioned until Judges 8:4. The words literally mean “from beyond the Jordan,” as the Septuagint translates them (apo peran), but this is idiomatic for “from one place to another,” as in Joshua 13:22, etc.