And the LORD said unto Gideon,
By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand: and let all the other people go, every man unto his place.
All Commentaries on Judges 7:7 Go To Judges 7
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Dogs should not always be taken in an evil sense; otherwise the prophet would not blame “dogs not able to bark and loving to dream.” Doubtless they would be praiseworthy dogs if they both knew how to bark and loved to watch. And certainly those three hundred men—a most sacred number according to the letter of the cross—would not have been chosen to win the victory because they lapped water as dogs do, unless some great mystery were signified. Good dogs watch and bark to protect their house and their master, their flock and their shepherd. Finally, even here in the praises offered by the church, when a selection is made from this prophecy, it is the tongue of dogs that is mentioned, not their teeth.