And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
And he said to them, 'What have I accomplished compared to what you have done? Aren't the leftover grapes that Ephraim gathered better than the whole harvest that Abiezer collected?'
Gideon is humbly telling the tribe of Ephraim that their small contribution was actually more valuable than his own greater efforts.
📚 Historical Context
This verse comes after Gideon's victory over the Midianites, when the tribe of Ephraim complained that they weren't called to fight from the beginning. Gideon was from the clan of Abiezer within the tribe of Manasseh, and he's diplomatically deflecting their anger by praising their later involvement in the battle. The metaphor compares grape harvesting - where even the leftovers (gleaning) from a good vineyard are better than the full harvest from a poor one.
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