Discovery BoxJudges 6:1--8:3
Context6:1 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, 1 so the Lord turned them over to 2 Midian for seven years. 6:2 The Midianites 3 overwhelmed Israel. 4 Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters 5 for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds. 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, 6 the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. 7 6:4 They invaded the land 8 and devoured 9 its crops 10 all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, 11 and they took away 12 the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. 6:5 When they invaded 13 with their cattle and tents, they were as thick 14 as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. 15 They came to devour 16 the land. 6:6 Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
6:7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian, 6:8 he 17 sent a prophet 18 to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt 19 and took you out of that place of slavery. 20 6:9 I rescued you from Egypt’s power 21 and from the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave their land to you. 6:10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship 22 the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!” But you have disobeyed me.’” 23
6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger 24 came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon 25 was threshing 26 wheat in a winepress 27 so he could hide it from the Midianites. 28 6:12 The Lord’s messenger appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!” 6:13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, 29 but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster 30 overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, 31 ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 6:14 Then the Lord himself 32 turned to him and said, “You have the strength. 33 Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! 34 Have I not sent you?” 6:15 Gideon 35 said to him, “But Lord, 36 how 37 can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” 38 6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but 39 I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” 40 6:17 Gideon 41 said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, 42 then give me 43 a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me. 6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back 44 with a gift 45 and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”
6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, 46 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 47 to him under the oak tree and presented it to him. 6:20 God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, 48 and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. 49 6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. 50 Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. 51
6:22 When Gideon realized 52 that it was the Lord’s messenger, he 53 said, “Oh no! 54 Master, Lord! 55 I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!” 6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! 56 Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!” 6:24 Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.” 57 To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
6:25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. 58 Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole. 6:26 Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern. 59 Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.” 6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants 60 and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family 61 and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. 62
6:28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw 63 the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar. 6:29 They said to one another, 64 “Who did this?” 65 They investigated the matter thoroughly 66 and concluded 67 that Gideon son of Joash had done it. 6:30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! 68 He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.” 6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, 69 “Must you fight Baal’s battles? 70 Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause 71 will die by morning! 72 If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! 73 After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” 74 6:32 That very day Gideon’s father named him Jerub-Baal, 75 because he had said, “Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down.”
6:33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east 76 assembled. They crossed the Jordan River 77 and camped in the Jezreel Valley. 6:34 The Lord’s spirit took control of 78 Gideon. He blew a trumpet, 79 summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 80 6:35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. 81 He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.
6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, 82 as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. 83 6:37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it 84 is dry, then I will be sure 85 that you will use me to deliver Israel, 86 as you promised.” 6:38 The Lord did as he asked. 87 When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. 88 6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. 89 Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.” 90 6:40 That night God did as he asked. 91 Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
7:1 Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men 92 got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. 93 The Midianites 94 were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley. 7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. 95 Israel might brag, 96 ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ 97 7:3 Now, announce to the men, 98 ‘Whoever is shaking with fear 99 may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” 100 Twenty-two thousand men 101 went home; 102 ten thousand remained. 7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. 103 Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. 104 When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; 105 when I say, 106 ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” 107 7:5 So he brought the men 108 down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” 109 7:6 Three hundred men lapped; 110 the rest of the men 111 kneeled to drink water. 7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army 112 and I will hand Midian over to you. 113 The rest of the men should go home.” 114 7:8 The men 115 who were chosen 116 took supplies 117 and their trumpets. Gideon 118 sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; 119 he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites 120 were camped down below 121 in the valley.
7:9 That night the Lord said to Gideon, 122 “Get up! Attack 123 the camp, for I am handing it over to you. 124 7:10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant 7:11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave 125 and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp. 126 7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. 127 Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. 128 The man 129 said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw 130 a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” 131 7:14 The other man said, 132 “Without a doubt this symbolizes 133 the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. 134 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. 135 He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. 136 7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! 137 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 138 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. 139 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. 140 Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order 141 all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 142 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords 143 throughout 144 the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went 145 to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. 146
7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. 147 Take control of the fords of the streams 148 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” 149 When all the Ephraimites had assembled, 150 they took control of the fords 151 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. 152 They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb 153 in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites 154 and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. 155
8:1 The Ephraimites said to him, “Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us 156 when you went to fight the Midianites!” They argued vehemently with him. 8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes 157 are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! 158 8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” 159 When he said this, they calmed down. 160
[6:1] 1 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[6:1] 2 tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”
[6:2] 3 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
[6:2] 4 tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”
[6:2] 5 tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
[6:3] 6 tn Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”
[6:3] 7 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him.” The translation assumes that וְעָלוּ (vÿ’alu) is dittographic (note the following עָלָיו, ’alayv).
[6:4] 8 tn Heb “They encamped against them.”
[6:4] 10 tn Heb “the crops of the land.”
[6:4] 11 tn Heb “They left no sustenance in Israel.”
[6:4] 12 tn The words “they took away” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:5] 15 tn Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”
[6:5] 16 tn Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.
[6:8] 17 tn Heb “the
[6:8] 18 tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.
[6:8] 19 tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).
[6:8] 20 tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”
[6:9] 21 tn Heb “hand” (also a second time later in this verse).
[6:10] 22 tn Heb “Do not fear.”
[6:10] 23 tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”
[6:11] 24 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
[6:11] 25 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.
[6:11] 26 tn Heb “beating out.”
[6:11] 27 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.
[6:13] 29 tn Heb “But my lord.”
[6:14] 32 sn Some interpreters equate the
[6:14] 33 tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”
[6:14] 34 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
[6:15] 35 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:15] 36 tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.
[6:15] 38 tn Heb “in my father’s house.”
[6:16] 40 tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”
[6:17] 41 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:17] 42 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
[6:17] 43 tn Heb “perform for me.”
[6:18] 44 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:18] 45 tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.
[6:19] 46 tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”
[6:19] 47 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.
[6:20] 48 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
[6:20] 49 tn Heb “and he did so.”
[6:21] 50 tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”
[6:21] 51 tn Heb “went from his eyes.”
[6:22] 53 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:22] 55 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15],
[6:23] 56 tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
[6:24] 57 tn Heb “The
[6:25] 58 tn Or “Take a bull from your father’s herd, the second one, the one seven years old.” Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.
[6:26] 59 tn Possibly “in a row” or “in a layer,” perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar’s construction.
[6:27] 60 tn Heb “men from among his servants.”
[6:27] 62 tn Heb “so he did it at night.”
[6:28] 63 tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.
[6:29] 64 tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”
[6:29] 65 tn Heb “this thing.”
[6:29] 66 tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
[6:29] 67 tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”
[6:30] 68 tn Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.
[6:31] 69 tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”
[6:31] 70 tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”
[6:31] 71 tn Heb “fights for him.”
[6:31] 72 sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.
[6:31] 73 tn Heb “fight for himself.”
[6:31] 74 tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).
[6:32] 75 tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”
[6:33] 76 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east.”
[6:33] 77 tn The words “the Jordan River” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:34] 79 tn That is, “mustered an army.”
[6:34] 80 tn Heb “Abiezer was summoned after him.”
[6:35] 81 tn Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”
[6:36] 82 tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”
[6:36] 83 tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:37] 84 tn Heb “all the ground.”
[6:37] 86 tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”
[6:38] 87 tn Heb “And it was so.”
[6:38] 88 tn Heb “dew dripped from the fleece – a bowl full of water.”
[6:39] 89 tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”
[6:39] 90 tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”
[6:40] 91 tn Heb “God did so that night.”
[7:1] 92 tn Heb “and all the people who were with him.”
[7:1] 93 sn The name Harod means, ironically, “trembling.”
[7:1] 94 tn Heb “Midian.” The LXX reads “and Amalek” (cf. v. 12; 6:33).
[7:2] 95 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
[7:2] 96 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
[7:2] 97 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
[7:3] 98 tn Heb “call into the ears of the people.”
[7:3] 99 tn Heb “afraid and shaking.”
[7:3] 100 tc Many interpreters reject the MT reading “and leave Mount Gilead” for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, “So Gideon tested them” (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).
[7:3] 101 tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because warriors are in view, and in ancient Israelite culture these would be only males. (This is also the case in vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
[7:3] 102 tn Or “turned around, back.”
[7:4] 103 tn Heb “too many people.”
[7:4] 104 tn Heb “test them for you there.”
[7:4] 105 tn Heb “he should go with you.”
[7:4] 106 tn Heb also has “to you.”
[7:4] 107 tn Heb “he should not go.”
[7:5] 108 tn Heb “the people.”
[7:5] 109 tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”
[7:6] 110 tc The Hebrew text adds, “with their hands to their mouths,” This makes no sense in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would use their hands). It seems likely that the words “with their hands to their mouths” have been misplaced from v. 6. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place.
[7:6] 111 tn Heb “the people.”
[7:7] 112 tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
[7:7] 113 tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
[7:7] 114 tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
[7:8] 115 tn Heb “The people.”
[7:8] 116 tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:8] 117 tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”
[7:8] 118 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:8] 121 tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).
[7:9] 122 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:9] 123 tn Heb “Go down against.”
[7:9] 124 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
[7:11] 125 tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
[7:11] 126 tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
[7:12] 127 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
[7:13] 128 tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
[7:13] 129 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:13] 130 tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
[7:13] 131 tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”
[7:14] 132 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[7:14] 133 tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”
[7:15] 134 tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”
[7:16] 136 tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:19] 138 tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”
[7:19] 139 tn Heb “that were in their hands.”
[7:20] 140 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:21] 141 tn Heb “each in his place.”
[7:22] 143 tn Heb “the
[7:22] 144 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.
[7:22] 145 tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:24] 147 tn Heb “to meet Midian.”
[7:24] 148 tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”
[7:24] 149 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).
[7:24] 150 tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”
[7:24] 151 tn Heb “they captured the waters.”
[7:25] 152 sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.
[7:25] 153 tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:25] 155 tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).
[8:1] 156 tn Heb “by not summoning us.”
[8:2] 158 sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family.
[8:3] 159 tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”
[8:3] 160 tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”
