Judges 6:1-18

Oppression and Confrontation

6:1 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 

Gideon Meets Some Visitors

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.”

[6:1]  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]  ⁹ tn Heb “destroyed.”

[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]  ¹³ tn Heb “came up.”

[6:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “numerous.”

[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 Lord”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[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.

[6:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Midian.”

[6:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “But my lord.”

[6:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all this.”

[6:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “saying.”

[6:14]  ³² sn Some interpreters equate the Lord and the messenger in this story, but they are more likely distinct. In vv. 22-23 the Lord and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21).

[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]  ³⁷ tn Heb “with what.”

[6:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “in my father’s house.”

[6:16]  ³⁹ tn Or “certainly.”

[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.