Text -- Judges 7:15-23 (NET)

Gideon Routs the Enemy

7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. 7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’” 7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. 7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords throughout the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jdg 7:15

¹ tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”

NET Notes: Jdg 7:16

¹ tn Heb “heads.”

² tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

sn They hid the torches inside the earthenware jars to disguise their approach and to keep the torches from being extinguished by the breeze.

NET Notes: Jdg 7:17

¹ tn Or “look.”

NET Notes: Jdg 7:19

¹ tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”

² tn Heb “that were in their hands.”

NET Notes: Jdg 7:20

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Jdg 7:21

¹ tn Heb “each in his place.”

² tn Or “fled.”

NET Notes: Jdg 7:22

¹ tn Heb “the Lord set the sword of each one against his friend.”

² tc MT has “and throughout the camp,” but the conjunction (“and”) is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.

³ tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

NET Notes: Jdg 7:23

¹ tn Heb “Midian.”