Gideon was now encouraged, divided his army into three companies, and ordered them to imitate him in all he did—16th verse; “And he divided the three hundred into companies,” one hundred in each company, partly to make the better figure; a shew of an army, with right and left wing, and partly that they might fall upon the camp of Midian in different parts—and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand—they that returned of the trumpeters having left their trumpets behind, so that there was a sufficient number of trumpets for three hundred men; and these were put into their hands, that when they blew together the noise would be very great, and it would seem, by the noise, like a great army, and so terrify their enemies. “With empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers:” the pitchers were of earth, and so very easily broken, and made a great noise in clashing together one against another; and these were empty of water, or otherwise would not have been fit to put lamps into—and the lamps put into them were not of oil, for then when the pitchers were broken the oil would have run out—but were a kind of torches, made of rosin, wax, pitch, and such like things; and these were put in the pitchers to preserve them from the wind, and conceal them from the enemy till just as they came upon them, and then they held them out—which, in a dark night, would make a terrible blaze, as before this they were of use to light them down the hill to the camp. Gideon stood forward first, and as he acted so were they to act; and as they were acting so they were to exclaim, “The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” or, for the Lord and for Gideon. The name Jehovah, these heathens might often have heard as the God of Israel, and would now sound dreadful to them; and the name of Gideon also:—this was the reason why Gideon is added, and not out of arrogance and vanity, but put after the name of the Lord, as being only an instrument the Lord thought fit to make use of; but all the glory belonged to the Lord.