His response to Ephraim’s anger is one of diplomacy and seeming humility. He absorbs the Ephraimite insult, and downplays his role in the victory. What he basically says is, Is not the gleaning (the grapes passed over in the initial harvesting) of Ephraim better than the grape harvest (the prime vintage harvest) of Abiezer (Gideon’s clan)?
In other words, he attributes the main victory to Ephraim, judging their honour to be the greater because God rewarded their contribution by giving them the real trophies
—the Midianite princes.1
2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?