Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead. There returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
In the law Moses had said that the Israelites should not force the fearful to go into battle (Deuteronomy 20:8). God reminded Gideon to give any who were afraid the opportunity to go home, which he did (Judges 7:3). However the large number that deserted him, more than two out of three, must have shocked Gideon. Then God said that even the remaining 10,000 soldiers (or 10 units) were too many (Judges 7:4).