(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 8:1–3, “And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.”
After the battle some people from one of the other tribes came to Gideon and castigated him for not calling them to help in the battle. At that stage, indeed until King Saul was anointed, there was no common identity among the tribes of Israel. Each tribe was committed to its own business but, from time to time, they would cooperate on various issues. This also meant that they were easier to subjugate because invading nations were able to attack Israel tribe by tribe. Ephraim was the most significant tribe because Ephraim was chosen by Jacob to be his heir. The men from Ephraim were upset that they didn't get an opportunity to share in the spoil from the battle but Gideon told them that they were far more important than his clan and his tribe. We saw earlier that Gideon belonged to Abiezer and he said that he was least of all the clans in his tribe. When Gideon spoke to the men from Ephraim with godly wisdom they were appeased. 1 Kings 1: 5-10
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