The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the sea-shore for multitude.
Yahweh obviously sent this dream. The Midianite soldier derived his interpretation of his friend’s dream from the symbolism in the dream. Barley bread was the food of the poor and would have been the staple of the Israelites under the conditions they had to endure during Midian’s oppression. The tent was the home of all the Midianite, Amalekite, and Arabian Bedouins. The soldiers had obviously heard of Gideon and his plans to engage them in battle. They therefore concluded that the unlikely destruction of the tent by a mere loaf of barley bread signified Gideon’s destruction of their forces.