שופטים, פרק ז׳, פסוק ח׳

A sharp shift occurs in the preparations for battle, moving away from a standard military strategy that relies on an army of tens of thousands. Instead, a miraculous approach takes over, depending entirely on a tiny handful of men [שטיינזלץ]. The remaining three hundred fighters—those who drank by lapping the water—gathered the food provisions left behind by the departing army [מצודת ציון, שטיינזלץ]. Along with the food and pitchers, they also collected the horns from the tens of thousands of soldiers who were sent back home [מצודת דוד, רד״ק, חומת אנך, אברבנאל].

The primary approach among commentators is that gathering this equipment ensured every single one of the three hundred remaining men was armed with a horn and a pitcher [רלב״ג, רד״ק, מלבי״ם]. While bringing horns to battle was a common practice at the time [אברבנאל], the objective here was highly specific: to produce a massive, powerful blast that would strike terror into the Midianite camp [רד״ק]. It appears that God had already informed Gideon of the exact tactical plan involving the horns, pitchers, and torches, even if the details of His instruction are kept brief and not explicitly detailed at this moment [רלב״ג].

Gideon then dismissed the rest of the Israelite forces to their homes, keeping only this small minority with him [מצודת ציון, מצודת דוד, שטיינזלץ]. Below them, the Midianite camp rested in the valley. The location of the enemy is emphasized again to highlight that Gideon had moved up the mountain, looking down at his opponents from above [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Down in the flat, comfortable valley, the Midianites were camped securely, completely without fear of any impending threat [שטיינזלץ].