וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־גִּדְע֔וֹן רַ֗ב הָעָם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתָּ֔ךְ מִתִּתִּ֥י אֶת־מִדְיָ֖ן בְּיָדָ֑ם פֶּן־יִתְפָּאֵ֨ר עָלַ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר יָדִ֖י הוֹשִׁ֥יעָה לִּֽי׃
Wiekuisty jednak rzekł do Gideona: Za liczny jest lud przy tobie, abym wydał w moc ich Midjanitów, inaczej mógłby Izrael chlubić się wobec Mnie, mówiąc: ręka moja mnie wyzwoliła!
Rashbam
התפאר עלי, arrogate to yourself the right to ask what you want of me and I shall carry out your wish. The construction is similar to Judges 7,2 פן יתפאר עלי ישראל לאמר ידי הושיעה לי, “lest Israel be arrogant enough vis-à-vis Me to say: ‘my hand has been strong enough to provide my own salvation.’”
Rabbeinu Chananel
ולא נחם אלוקים דרך ארץ פלשתים, He led them through the desert for a different reason, apart from the fact that the route through the land of the Philistines was the most convenient one. Had He led them in that direction, and He would have convinced the Philistines to allow the Israelites free passage, based on the longstanding treaty between Yitzchak and Avimelech, G’d could not have performed even a fraction of the miracles He had in mind to perform in order to strengthen the people’s confidence in Him.
Therefore, by making the Israelites take a circuitous route, G’d would be able not only to provide the people with manna, meat in the form of the quail, water produced by striking a rock, etc., etc., but the further away the Israelites would be from inhabited areas the greater would be the miracle that G’d could provide for several million people all of their needs. The lesson would also be taught that even in such inhospitable regions of the earth, the human species could survive if G’d wanted it so.
When G’d saved Chanayah, Mishael, and Azaryah from the fiery furnace, G’d could have saved these people by performing a far lesser miracle. However, He wanted to demonstrate His power at that time. (compare Daniel 3,27) G’d did not simply extinguish the flames in the furnace, for instance, but let it roar at its fiercest in order to show that if He wanted man to survive unharmed inside such a furnace it could be done, if only G’d wanted it. Or, to take the example of Daniel in the lions’ den. All G’d had to do was to kill the lions and Daniel would have been saved. The reason why G’d went to the trouble of preventing these starved lions from making a meal out of Daniel was to demonstrate to the onlookers the extent of His control over nature. (compare Daniel 6,23).
Another example of the same kind is found in Judges 7,2. If G’d would have allowed Gideon with 10,000 men to defeat the many times larger army of the Midianites, this would have been miracle enough. Why did G’d shrink the number of soldiers at Gideon’s disposal to 300? For no other reason than to make the miracle so much greater.
G’d wanted to teach the lesson that numbers did not matter at all; what counted was that the soldiers be G’d fearing men who had never bowed their knee to an alien deity. Prowess with a sword was not what was required, but lapping up water by hand and bringing it to one’s mouth is what distinguishes man from the beasts who lower themselves to the water.
Therefore, by making the Israelites take a circuitous route, G’d would be able not only to provide the people with manna, meat in the form of the quail, water produced by striking a rock, etc., etc., but the further away the Israelites would be from inhabited areas the greater would be the miracle that G’d could provide for several million people all of their needs. The lesson would also be taught that even in such inhospitable regions of the earth, the human species could survive if G’d wanted it so.
When G’d saved Chanayah, Mishael, and Azaryah from the fiery furnace, G’d could have saved these people by performing a far lesser miracle. However, He wanted to demonstrate His power at that time. (compare Daniel 3,27) G’d did not simply extinguish the flames in the furnace, for instance, but let it roar at its fiercest in order to show that if He wanted man to survive unharmed inside such a furnace it could be done, if only G’d wanted it. Or, to take the example of Daniel in the lions’ den. All G’d had to do was to kill the lions and Daniel would have been saved. The reason why G’d went to the trouble of preventing these starved lions from making a meal out of Daniel was to demonstrate to the onlookers the extent of His control over nature. (compare Daniel 6,23).
Another example of the same kind is found in Judges 7,2. If G’d would have allowed Gideon with 10,000 men to defeat the many times larger army of the Midianites, this would have been miracle enough. Why did G’d shrink the number of soldiers at Gideon’s disposal to 300? For no other reason than to make the miracle so much greater.
G’d wanted to teach the lesson that numbers did not matter at all; what counted was that the soldiers be G’d fearing men who had never bowed their knee to an alien deity. Prowess with a sword was not what was required, but lapping up water by hand and bringing it to one’s mouth is what distinguishes man from the beasts who lower themselves to the water.
Or HaChaim
וקרני ראם קרניו, "he has thorns like the horns of the wild-ox." This is a reference to Joshua, a descendant of Joseph's younger son Ephrayim. His reputation was world-wide, "his horn" comparable to the horn of the wild-ox.