6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger 5 came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon 6 was threshing 7 wheat in a winepress 8 so he could hide it from the Midianites. 9
6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, 10 along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food 11 to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.
1 tn Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of “to gather; to pick up; to glean,” but “lick up” seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.
2 tn The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
3 tn Heb “Just as I did, so God has repaid me.” Note that the phrase “to them” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
6 tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.
7 tn Heb “beating out.”
8 sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
9 tn Heb “Midian.”
9 tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”
10 tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.