And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of Jordan.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Two men. That is, two of their chiefs. (Challoner)
Press. Hebrew yekeb, denotes a cistern fit to contain wine, Isaias v. 2., and Proverbs iii. 10.
Zeb had concealed himself in it.
Jordan. They afterwards took occasion from this exploit to extol their own valour, and to quarrel with Gedeon. (Calmet)
They who were glorying in their army, whose king was the Assyrian and who used to boast “I will scale the heavens,” not only fell down to earth but on the ground became dung.
“Make their nobles.” What nobles? Those who fight against your people. “Like Oreb and Zeeb; all their chiefs like Zebah and Zalmunna.” I suppose you have read in the book of Judges the story of Gideon, who is also called Jerubbaal, how he outwitted those four kings while fighting for the people of God and put an end to them. And notice the kind of nobles these Midianites are who abandoned the judgment of God: “Oreb and Zeeb; all their chiefs like Zebah and Zalmunna.” Who would dream that such words contain mysteries of the Savior? The philosophers read them and smile; the rhetoricians read them and sneer. Not only the rhetoricians, however, but the Jews, too; they have not the key to their treasures, for a veil covers their eyes. “Oreb” means a “hole in which a snake lurks”; “Zeeb” equals “wolf.” Mark, now, the na...
