Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 8:28

"So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon." — Judges 8:28 (ASV)

Thus was Midian subdued. —This verse closes the second great epoch of Gideon’s life. The separate phrases occur in Judges 1:2; Judges 4:23–24; Judges 5:31. The remaining verses of the chapter provide us with a few details of the third and last period of his life.