Verse 28:[1] Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. (Judg. 5:31) And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.
[They were not able to raise up their necks] Hebrew: to lift their head[2] (Malvenda). It is explained in two ways. 1. They did not dare to rise up against the Israelites. 2. They were not able to recover their former state, or, to emerge from their calamity (Malvenda). He that proves to be superior to his enemies, and who emerges from evils, lifts his head; Job 10:15; Psalm 3:3; 27:6; 110:7; Zechariah 1:21. To go with the head hanging down and brought down to the ground is the carriage of the miserable, and of the conquered (Drusius).
Lifted up their heads no more, that is, recovered not their former strength or courage, so as to conquer or oppress others, as they had done.
[The land rested for the forty years in which Gideon was in charge] That is, unto the fortieth year of Gideon; whence in these are to be included the seven years of servitude, as was said above on Judges 3:11 (Bonfrerius, Lapide). Nay, but these forty years of quiet are to be disjoined from those seven years of servitude, as it is most expressly evident from this passage, it rested in the days of Gideon, that is, as long as he lived, and was in charge. For otherwise he lived many more years, verse 32. Moreover, this quiet is set forth as the effect of the humbling of Midian (Serarius).
Forty years, that is, to the fortieth year, from the beginning of the Midianitish oppression: see on Judges 3:11. In the days of Gideon, that is, as long as Gideon lived.
[1] Hebrew: וַיִּכָּנַ֣ע מִדְיָ֗ן לִפְנֵי֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְלֹ֥א יָסְפ֖וּ לָשֵׂ֣את רֹאשָׁ֑ם וַתִּשְׁקֹ֥ט הָאָ֛רֶץ אַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בִּימֵ֥י גִדְעֽוֹן׃
[2] Hebrew: לָשֵׂ֣את רֹאשָׁ֑ם.