Judges 6
New English Translation
Oppression and Confrontation
6 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight,[a] so the Lord turned them over to[b] Midian for seven years. 2 The Midianites[c] overwhelmed Israel.[d] Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters[e] for themselves in the hills, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops,[f] the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them.[g] 4 They invaded the land[h] and devoured[i] its crops[j] all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat,[k] and they took away[l] the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. 5 When they invaded[m] with their cattle and tents, they were as thick[n] as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted.[o] They came to devour[p] the land. 6 Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian, 8 the Lord sent a prophet[q] to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘I brought you up from Egypt[r] and took you out of that place of slavery.[s] 9 I rescued you from Egypt’s power[t] and from the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave their land to you. 10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship[u] the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living.” But you have disobeyed me.’”[v]
Gideon Meets Some Visitors
11 The angel of the Lord[w] came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon[x] was threshing[y] wheat in a winepress[z] so he could hide it from the Midianites.[aa] 12 The angel of the Lord appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!” 13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me,[ab] but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster[ac] overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said,[ad] ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 14 Then the Lord himself[ae] turned to him and said, “You have the strength.[af] Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites![ag] Have I not sent you?” 15 Gideon[ah] said to him, “But Lord,[ai] how[aj] can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.”[ak] 16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but[al] I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.”[am] 17 Gideon[an] said to him, “If you really are pleased with me,[ao] then give me[ap] a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me. 18 Do not leave this place until I come back[aq] with a gift[ar] and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”
19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat,[as] 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[at] to him under the oak tree and presented it to him. 20 God’s angel said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock,[au] and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed.[av] 21 The angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff.[aw] Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The angel of the Lord then disappeared.[ax]
22 When Gideon realized[ay] that it was the angel of the Lord, he[az] said, “Oh no![ba] Sovereign Lord![bb] I have seen the angel of the Lord face-to-face!” 23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe![bc] Do not be afraid. You are not going to die!” 24 Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.”[bd] To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Gideon Destroys the Altar
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.[be] Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole. 26 Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern.[bf] Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants[bg] and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family[bh] and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.[bi]
28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw[bj] the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar. 29 They said to one another,[bk] “Who did this?”[bl] They investigated the matter thoroughly[bm] and concluded[bn] that Gideon son of Joash had done it. 30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him![bo] He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.” 31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him,[bp] “Must you fight Baal’s battles?[bq] Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause[br] will die by morning![bs] If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles![bt] After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.”[bu] 32 That very day Gideon’s father named him Jerub Baal,[bv] because he had said, “Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down.”
Gideon Summons an Army and Seeks Confirmation
33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east[bw] assembled. They crossed the Jordan River[bx] and camped in the Jezreel Valley. 34 The Lord’s Spirit took control of[by] Gideon. He blew a trumpet,[bz] summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.[ca] 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well.[cb] He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.
36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel,[cc] as you promised, then give me a sign as proof.[cd] 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[ce] is dry, then I will be sure[cf] that you will use me to deliver Israel,[cg] as you promised.” 38 The Lord did as he asked.[ch] When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl.[ci] 39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign.[cj] 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.”[ck] 40 That night God did as he asked.[cl] Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
Footnotes
- Judges 6:1 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- Judges 6:1 tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”
- Judges 6:2 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
- Judges 6:2 tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”
- Judges 6:2 tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
- Judges 6:3 tn Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”
- Judges 6:3 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him.” The translation assumes that וְעָלוּ (veʿalu) is dittographic (note the following עָלָיו, ʿalayv).
- Judges 6:4 tn Heb “They encamped against them.”
- Judges 6:4 tn Heb “destroyed.”
- Judges 6:4 tn Heb “the crops of the land.”
- Judges 6:4 tn Heb “They left no sustenance in Israel.”
- Judges 6:4 tn The words “they took away” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 6:5 tn Heb “came up.”
- Judges 6:5 tn Heb “numerous.”
- Judges 6:5 tn Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”
- Judges 6:5 tn Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.
- Judges 6:8 tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.
- Judges 6:8 tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (meʾerets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).
- Judges 6:8 tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”
- Judges 6:9 tn Heb “hand” (also a second time later in this verse).
- Judges 6:10 tn Heb “Do not fear.”
- Judges 6:10 tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”
- Judges 6:11 sn The angel of the Lord is also mentioned in Judg 2:1.
- Judges 6:11 tn Heb “Now Gideon his son….” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.
- Judges 6:11 tn Heb “beating out.”
- Judges 6:11 sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
- Judges 6:11 tn Heb “Midian.”
- Judges 6:13 tn Heb “But my lord.”
- Judges 6:13 tn Heb “all this.”
- Judges 6:13 tn Heb “saying.”
- Judges 6:14 tc The LXX reads “the angel of the Lord” here and in v. 16. The translation follows the MT and adds “himself” to draw attention to the change. sn Some interpreters equate the Lord and the messenger in this story. Since the messenger represents the Lord, perhaps when the Lord is mentioned in vv. 14 and 16 it means so indirectly, while Gideon’s direct encounter is with the angel. Indicators that the Lord and the angel of the Lord are distinct include: 1) the Hebrew text says only “Lord” in vv. 14 and 16; 2) in verse 16 the speaker in the Hebrew text says “I will be with you” referring to the Lord (but see the note at v. 16); 3) Gideon addresses the angel as אֲדֹנִי (ʾadoni, “my lord”) but the Lord as אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay, “my Lord”); 4) in vv. 22-23 the Lord and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21). On the other hand, if the Lord was present, appearing visibly in human form (called a theophany), as implied by “turning” [his head] to Gideon, why would Gideon not be more fearful at the end of the story for having seen God rather than his angel? The story could be pictured as an exchange with the angel followed by calling out to the Lord in prayer. The translation assumes that the angel and the Lord are distinct in the conversation, but the matter is difficult.
- Judges 6:14 tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”
- Judges 6:14 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
- Judges 6:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 6:15 tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (ʾadoni, “my lord”) in v. 13.
- Judges 6:15 tn Heb “with what.”
- Judges 6:15 tn Heb “in my father’s house.”
- Judges 6:16 tn Or “certainly.”
- Judges 6:16 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.”
- Judges 6:17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 6:17 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
- Judges 6:17 tn Heb “perform for me.”
- Judges 6:18 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 6:18 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.
- Judges 6:19 tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”
- Judges 6:19 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.
- Judges 6:20 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
- Judges 6:20 tn Heb “and he did so.”
- Judges 6:21 tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”
- Judges 6:21 tn Heb “went from his eyes.”
- Judges 6:22 tn Heb “saw.”
- Judges 6:22 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 6:22 tn Or “Ah!”
- Judges 6:22 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (ʾadonay yehvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15], Lord”).
- Judges 6:23 tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
- Judges 6:24 tn Heb “The Lord is peace.” Gideon’s name for the altar plays on the Lord’s reassuring words to him, “Peace to you.”
- Judges 6:25 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.
- Judges 6:26 tn Possibly “in a row” or “in a layer,” perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar’s construction.
- Judges 6:27 tn Heb “men from among his servants.”
- Judges 6:27 tn Heb “house.”
- Judges 6:27 tn Heb “so he did it at night.”
- Judges 6:28 tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.
- Judges 6:29 tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”
- Judges 6:29 tn Heb “this thing.”
- Judges 6:29 tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
- Judges 6:29 tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”
- Judges 6:30 tn Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.
- Judges 6:31 tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”
- Judges 6:31 tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”
- Judges 6:31 tn Heb “fights for him.”
- Judges 6:31 sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.
- Judges 6:31 tn Heb “fight for himself.”
- Judges 6:31 tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).
- Judges 6:32 tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight” or “Let Baal defend himself.”
- Judges 6:33 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east.”
- Judges 6:33 tn The words “the Jordan River” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 6:34 tn Heb “clothed.”
- Judges 6:34 tn That is, “mustered an army.”
- Judges 6:34 tn Heb “Abiezer was summoned after him.”
- Judges 6:35 tn Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”
- Judges 6:36 tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”
- Judges 6:36 tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 6:37 tn Heb “and on all the ground.”
- Judges 6:37 tn Or “know.”
- Judges 6:37 tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”
- Judges 6:38 tn Heb “And it was so.”
- Judges 6:38 tn Heb “dew dripped from the fleece—a bowl full of water.”
- Judges 6:39 tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”
- Judges 6:39 tn Heb “Let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”
- Judges 6:40 tn Heb “God did so that night.”
Judges 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Midianite Oppression
6 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.(A) 2 The hand of Midian prevailed over Israel, and because of Midian the Israelites provided for themselves hiding places in the mountains, caves and strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites put in seed, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east would come up against them.(B) 4 They would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighborhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor any sheep or ox or donkey.(C) 5 For they and their livestock would come up, and they would even bring their tents, as thick as locusts; neither they nor their camels could be counted, so they wasted the land as they came in.(D) 6 Thus Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.(E)
[[7 When the Israelites cried to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery,(F) 9 and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you and drove them out before you and gave you their land,(G) 10 and I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.’ But you have not given heed to my voice.”[a]]]
The Call of Gideon
11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.(H) 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.”(I) 13 Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off and given us into the hand of Midian.”(J) 14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.”(K) 15 He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”(L) 16 The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.”(M) 17 Then he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.(N) 18 Do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”
19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.(O) 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock and pour out the broth.” And he did so.(P) 21 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes, and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.(Q) 22 Then Gideon perceived that it was the angel of the Lord, and Gideon said, “Help me, Lord God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”(R) 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you; do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, “The Lord is peace.” To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the sacred pole[b] that is beside it(S) 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order;[c] then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole[d] that you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had told him, but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
28 When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole[e] beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.(T) 29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this?” After searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 30 Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole[f] beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.” 32 Therefore on that day Gideon[g] was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.(U)
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together, and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.(V) 34 But the spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.(W) 35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they, too, were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
The Sign of the Fleece
36 Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.”(X) 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, but let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”(Y) 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
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