Judges 6:13-15

6:13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, ¹  but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster ²  overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ³  ‘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 ⁴  turned to him and said, “You have the strength. ⁵  Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! ⁶  Have I not sent you?” 6:15 Gideon ⁷  said to him, “But Lord, ⁸  how ⁹  can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” ¹⁰ 

[6:13]  ¹ tn Heb “But my lord.”

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “all this.”

[6:13]  ³ tn Heb “saying.”

[6:14]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”

[6:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

[6:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:15]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “with what.”

[6:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in my father’s house.”