Gideon went down upon the enemy in the midnight darkness, leading three hundred men, who carried concealed torches, as well as trumpets. The sudden sounding of trumpets and flashing of lights spread consternation among the Midianites; they fought suicidally, every man’s hand was against his brother, and they fled down the Valley of Jezreel. It was some 10 miles or more to the fords of the Jordan. At the fords they divided, Zeba and Zalmunna, the sheikhs, passing over, while Oreb and Zeeb, the lesser chiefs, continued their journey on the western side. Presumably they were hoping to get across at the great ford opposite Jericho; but Gideon sent word to the men of Ephraim to intercept them, and they did so. Gideon himself crossed at the northern fords, pursuing Zeba and Zalmunna, as far as Karkor, and when he had captured them he brought them back to Penuel. “Then said he to them, ‘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, the sons of my mother: as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.’” The men of Ephraim “slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb.” These two names signify the _Raven_ and the _Wolf_--not unnatural names for the chiefs of Nomad tribes--and Conder has discovered these names in the Jordan valley, a little north of Jericho. There is a curious conical chalk hill called ’_Osh el Ghurab_, the “Raven’s Peak,” and near to it a lesser hill with a valley, known as _Tuweil edh Dhiab_, the “Wolf’s Den.” The executions, if they took place on these elevations, would be in sight of all the people in the plain; and afterwards the heads were carried across to Gideon, who was now beyond Jordan. But victory was not always given to the Israelites in the Plain of Esdraelon. In the days of King Saul the Philistines, having been twice beaten in the hills, determined to try their fortune in the plains. Under the leadership of Achish, king of Gath, they marched northward, round the promontory of Carmel, and took up their position at Shunem, under “Little Hermon.”[18] Saul was posted on Mount Gilboa, but had no confidence in his strength. In his distress, indeed, he actually paid a night visit to the witch of Endor, although Endor was north of “Little Hermon,” and he had to go past the Philistine camp to reach it. The next morning the battle went against him: the Israelites were positively driven up the slope of Gilboa and slaughtered on the heights, which should have been their natural battle-ground. David, when he heard of it, felt the humiliation of it, or at least the depth of the misfortune, and his dirge for Saul and his son opens with the words, “Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath” (2 Sam. i.).