Fainty  yet  pursuing.— It  may  be  doubted  whether
the  usual  application  of  these  words  is  accurate.  The
LXX.  render  them,  "  fainting  and  hungry,"  and  the
Yulg.,  *'  and  for  weariness  they  could  not  overtake  the
fugitives."  Literally  it  is,  faint  and  inirsiiin^,  where
the  and  is  explanatory.  **  Exhausted  and  pursuing,"  i.  e.,
exhausted  with  pursuing  (Keil) .  * '  In  1815  Mehemet  All
pursued  the  Arabs  wiui  such  haste  as  to  find  himself
withoutprovisions,  and  had  to  be  content  with  a  few  dates ;
but  the  result  was  a  great  success  "  (Bitter  xii.  932).
(5)  Unto  the  men  of  Sucooth.— The  name  Sue
coth  means  "  booths,"  and  the  place  was  so  named,  or
re-named,  because  of  the  ''booths"  which  had  been
erected  there  b^  Jacob  on  his  return  from  Fadan-
aram  (G^n.  xxxuL  17 ;  Josh.  xui.  27).  It  was  situated
in  the  tribe  of  Gad,  and  is  probably  the  SvJckot  men-
tioned by  Burckhardt  as  on  the  east  of  Jordan,  south-
wards from  Bethshean.  The  "  valley  of  Succoth  "  is
mentioned  in  Pss.  Ix.  6,  cviii.  7.
Iioaves  of  bread.  —  The  loaves  are  round  cakes
{dccar).  His  request  was  a  very  modest  and  consi-
derate  one.  He  did  not  "  requisition  "  them  for  forces,
or  for  intelligence,  or  for  any  active  assistance,  because
he  might  bear  in  mind  that  they  on  the  east  of  Jordan
would,  in  case  of  any  reverse  or  incomplete  victory,  be
the  first  to  feel  the  vengeance  of  the  neighbouring
Midianites.  But  to  supmy  bread  to  their  own  hungry
countrymen,  who  were  fighting  "their  battles,  was  an  act
of  common  humanity  'miich  even  the  Midianites  could
notgreatly  resent.
Xfnto  the  people  that  follow  me.— Literally,
which  ia  ai  my  feet,  as  in  chap.  iv.  10.
