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Judges 6

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Israel Oppressed by Midian 1–6

1
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. ​
2
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. ​
3
And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
4
And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. ​
5
For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
6
And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. ​

The Lord Sends a Prophet 7–10

7
And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
8
That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; ​
9
And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10
And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. ​

The Angel Appears to Gideon 11–24

11
And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. ​
12
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. ​
13
And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. ​
14
And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? ​
15
And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. ​
16
And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
17
And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
18
Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
19
And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
20
And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
21
Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. ​
22
And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. ​
23
And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
24
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ​

Gideon Destroys Baal's Altar 25–32

25
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: ​
26
And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
27
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. ​
28
And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
29
And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
30
Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
31
And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. ​
32
Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. ​

Gideon Seeks Confirmation 33–40

33
Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. ​
34
But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. ​
35
And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36
And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, ​
37
Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. ​
38
And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39
And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. ​
40
And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Judges 6

Verse 1

delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years — The verb is nathan, to give, as in 13:1, ‘the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years’. Midian came from Abraham’s son by Keturah (Gen 25:2) and had lost five kings under Moses (Num 31:8). Seven years is the shortest term the book counts in years (cf. 3:8; 3:14; 4:3; 10:8; 13:1).

Verse 2

dens… caves, and strong holds — Minharah, ‘dens’, a cleft or cavern, is used only here. The three are mountain refuges, and Israel hides in its own land, as men once did before the Philistines: ‘the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits’ (1 Sam 13:6).

Verse 4

destroyed the increase of the earth — Yebul, produce. The invaders pitch in the land and strip it as far as Gaza, leaving no ‘sustenance’ (michyah, what keeps life going) nor livestock. It is the loss Moses set among the covenant curses: ‘he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land’ (Deut 28:51).

Verse 6

cried unto the LORD — Za’aq, to cry out in distress, as at 3:9, 3:15 and 10:10. ‘Impoverished’ is dalal, brought low, the root of the word ‘poor’ (dal) in v.15. The cry is answered first by a prophet (v.8), then by the angel who finds Gideon (v.11).

Verse 8

a prophet — Literally ‘a man, a prophet’ (ish navi); he is not named. His message rests on the ground with which the Ten Commandments begin, ‘I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage’ (Ex 20:2): the rescue from Egypt is the ground of the law, and v.10 names the commandment broken.

Verse 10

fear not the gods of the Amorites — The words are Joshua’s: ‘choose you this day whom ye will serve… the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell’ (Josh 24:15). The prophet calls the people back to the first commandment. ‘Ye have not obeyed my voice’ (shama, to hear and obey) is the charge made at Bochim (2:2).

Verse 11

threshed wheat by the winepress — Grain was winnowed on the open threshing floor (Ruth 3:2); Gideon beats it out in a winepress (gath), ‘to hide it from the Midianites’. The angel sits under the oak at Ophrah, which belongs to Joash the Abiezrite, of Abiezer’s line in Manasseh (Josh 17:2).

Verse 12

mighty man of valour — Gibbor chayil, a strong man of standing, said also of Jephthah (11:1) and, as ‘a mighty man of wealth’, of Boaz (Ruth 2:1). It is spoken to a man at work in a winepress. ‘The angel of the LORD’ who greets him is called ‘the LORD’ when he speaks again in v.14.

Verse 13

where be all his miracles — Pala, wonders, the word for what the LORD promised to do against Egypt: ‘smite Egypt with all my wonders’ (Ex 3:20). Gideon answers the angel’s ‘with thee’ with ‘with us’, and repeats the prophet’s line, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ (v.8). The reply is a sending (v.14), and no explanation is given.

Verse 14

have not I sent thee? — Shalach, the verb of v.8, ‘the LORD sent a prophet’, and of the commission to Moses: ‘Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh’ (Ex 3:10). The promise that follows in v.16, ‘Surely I will be with thee’, is the one made to Moses: ‘Certainly I will be with thee’ (Ex 3:12).

Verse 15

my family is poor in Manasseh — ‘Family’ is eleph, the word for a thousand, a clan. ‘Poor’ (dal) comes from the root of ‘impoverished’ in v.6; his house shares the nation’s lowness. ‘Least’ (tsa’ir) is the smallest in rank, as Saul spoke when called: ‘my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin’ (1 Sam 9:21).

Verse 21

there rose up fire out of the rock — The offering of v.20 lay on ‘this rock’, and the staff’s touch brings fire that consumed the flesh and cakes. The LORD took an offering by fire at the tabernacle (Lev 9:24) and on Elijah’s altar (1 Kgs 18:38). Then the angel ‘departed out of his sight’, and Gideon understands (v.22).

Verse 22

face to face — Gideon fears death, and the LORD answers, ‘thou shalt not die’ (v.23). Manoah says the same after the angel’s departure in the flame: ‘We shall surely die, because we have seen God’ (13:22). Jacob said the opposite: ‘I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved’ (Gen 32:30). ‘Alas’ is ahah, a cry of distress.

Verse 24

Jehovahshalom — ‘The LORD is peace’, the name taken from the word spoken in v.23, ‘Peace be unto thee; fear not’. The divine name stands in the compound beside shalom, peace. The altar was still at Ophrah of the Abiezrites ‘unto this day’. The command to build a second altar follows in v.26.

Verse 25

throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath — The first command is against an altar in his own father’s house, not against Midian. ‘Grove’ is asherah, a wooden image set by an altar, as the law said: ‘ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves’ (Ex 34:13). The bullock is then offered on the new altar (v.26).

Verse 27

did as the LORD had said unto him — Obedience and fear stand in one verse: he ‘feared his father’s household, and the men of the city’, yet did it. The verb ‘feared’ (yare) is the one in the prophet’s ‘fear not the gods of the Amorites’ (v.10). He takes ten of his servants and acts by night, the same night as the command (v.25).

Verse 31

let him plead for himself — Riv, to contend, is used three times in this verse and once in v.32. Joash turns the crowd’s demand for his son’s death upon those who would defend Baal: they are to die by morning, and a god who is a god can speak for himself. The altar-breaking becomes a test of Baal.

Verse 32

Jerubbaal — ‘Let Baal plead against him’, from the same riv as v.31. The name stays with him: ‘Jerubbaal, who is Gideon’ (7:1). Abimelech is later called ‘the son of Jerubbesheth’ (2 Sam 11:21), with bosheth, shame, in place of Baal. No answer from Baal is recorded; Gideon goes on to lead Israel (7:1).

Verse 33

the Amalekites and the children of the east — The same three peoples who ‘came up’ in v.3 gather and cross to ‘the valley of Jezreel’. Amalek had fought Israel since Rephidim (Ex 17:8). The raids that stripped the land year by year now become an assembled host, and Gideon is next to be called out (v.34).

Verse 34

the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon — The verb is labash, to put on as a garment: the Spirit clothes him, as in 1 Chr 12:18 and 2 Chr 24:20, where the same verb is used. It is the only use of labash in Judges. He blows the trumpet, and ‘Abiezer was gathered after him’, za’aq, the verb of Israel’s ‘cried’ in v.6.

Verse 36

by mine hand — ‘Hand’ (yad) has been the word of the oppression: Israel was delivered ‘into the hand of Midian’ (v.1), and the LORD promised to save them ‘from the hand of the Midianites’ (v.14, where the word is kaph, palm). Gideon now asks to be sure that the saving ‘by mine hand’ will be ‘as thou hast said’ (vv.14, 16), after the fire at the rock and the coming of the Spirit.

Verse 37

a fleece of wool in the floor — Gizzah, a shorn fleece, found only in vv.37–40. The ‘floor’ (goren) is the threshing floor, an open place, unlike the winepress where he threshed in hiding (v.11). The sign is dew on the fleece alone, with all the earth beside dry.

Verse 39

I will speak but this once — The plea of Abraham for Sodom: ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once’ (Gen 18:32). ‘Prove’ is nasah, to test. The second sign reverses the first, a dry fleece on dewy ground, and v.40 records the answer: ‘God did so that night’.