(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 8:18–21, “Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.”
Gideon finally captured the kings of the Midianites, in the Name of the Lord. They were the men who instituted the attacks on Israel and approved of the occupation so they, ultimately, had to bear the responsibility for the entire conflict. Gideon was interested in what happened at Tabor, a place close to where Gideon lived. He asked the kings about the people they had killed a Tabor and they told him that these people looked like Gideon. Gideon knew that they had killed his brothers and he had family obligation to execute them for killing members of his family in cold blood. In those days a Judge had a different responsibility to judges today. Modern judges are responsible for administering the law and proclaiming sentences while judges in those days were responsible for making the law, administering the law and ensuring that the punishment was carried. Gideon determined that these men had been responsible for the death of his family, he sentenced them to death for this crime and then made sure that the punishment, execution, was administered. He gave his son an opportunity to learn about effecting the Law but the boy was too young to take that responsibility so Gideon carried out the punishment then took the badges of office that the kings carried with them to show that he had defeated them in war and not just killed them in cold blood.
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