Judges 6:25-28

Gideon Destroys the Altar

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. ¹  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. ²  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 ³  and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family ⁴  and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. ⁵ 

6:28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw ⁶  the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.

[6:25]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “men from among his servants.”

[6:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[6:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “so he did it at night.”

[6:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.