Judges 6:17-24

6:17 Gideon ¹  said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, ²  then give me ³  a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me. 6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back ⁴  with a gift ⁵  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, ⁶  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 ⁷  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, ⁸  and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. ⁹  6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. ¹⁰  Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. ¹¹ 

6:22 When Gideon realized ¹²  that it was the Lord’s messenger, he ¹³  said, “Oh no! ¹⁴  Master, Lord! ¹⁵  I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!” 6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! ¹⁶  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.” ¹⁷  To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Judges 6:36-40

6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, ¹⁸  as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  is dry, then I will be sure ²¹  that you will use me to deliver Israel, ²²  as you promised.” 6:38 The Lord did as he asked. ²³  When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. ²⁴  6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. ²⁵  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.” ²⁶  6:40 That night God did as he asked. ²⁷  Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.

[6:17]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:17]  ² tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”

[6:17]  ³ tn Heb “perform for me.”

[6:18]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:18]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”

[6:19]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”

[6:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he did so.”

[6:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”

[6:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “went from his eyes.”

[6:22]  ¹² tn Heb “saw.”

[6:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:22]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Ah!”

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

[6:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.

[6:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The Lord is peace.” Gideon’s name for the altar plays on the Lord’s reassuring words to him, “Peace to you.”

[6:36]  ¹⁸ tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”

[6:36]  ¹⁹ tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all the ground.”

[6:37]  ²¹ tn Or “know.”

[6:37]  ²² tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”

[6:38]  ²³ tn Heb “And it was so.”

[6:38]  ²⁴ tn Heb “dew dripped from the fleece – a bowl full of water.”

[6:39]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”

[6:39]  ²⁶ tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”

[6:40]  ²⁷ tn Heb “God did so that night.”