Gideon said, Therefore when Yahweh has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
A spirit of regionalism had developed in Israel since the days of Joshua. These Transjordanian Israelites showed no sense of brotherhood or national responsibility. Their lack of cooperation illustrates what both Moses and Joshua feared would happen to the Israelites who lived east of the Jordan River (Numbers 32:6-15; Numbers 32:20-27; Joshua 22:13-20). The seeds of national disintegration had germinated.