Judges 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but ¹  I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” ² 

Judges 6:21-24

6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. ³  Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. ⁴ 

6:22 When Gideon realized ⁵  that it was the Lord’s messenger, he ⁶  said, “Oh no! ⁷  Master, Lord! ⁸  I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!” 6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! ⁹  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.” ¹⁰  To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

[6:16]  ¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[6:16]  ² 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.”

[6:21]  ³ tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”

[6:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “went from his eyes.”

[6:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “saw.”

[6:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:22]  ⁷ tn Or “Ah!”

[6:22]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15], Lord”).

[6:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.

[6:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The Lord is peace.” Gideon’s name for the altar plays on the Lord’s reassuring words to him, “Peace to you.”