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Judges 7
Legacy Standard Bible

Gideon’s 300 Men

7 Then (A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside [a]the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of [b]them by the hill of (B)Moreh in the valley.

2 And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, (C)lest Israel honor themselves, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 So now, [c]come, call out in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘(D)Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

4 (E)Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him aside by himself, and so also everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. 7 And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you (F)with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his place.” 8 So [d]the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And [e]Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

9 Now it happened the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, (G)for I have given it into your hands. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, then both you and Purah your young man, go down to the camp, 11 and you will hear what they say; and (H)afterward your hands will be strengthened, that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his young man down to the [f]outskirts of the armed men that were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley (I)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, (J)as numerous as the sand on the seashore. 13 Then Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I [g]had a dream; [h]a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it [i]upside down so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his friend answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp (K)into his hand.”

15 Now it happened that when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hands.” 16 And he divided the 300 men into three [j]companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. 17 Then he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, I will come to the outskirts of the camp, and it will be that just as I do so you do likewise. 18 And I and all who are with me will blow the trumpet. Then you also shall blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Kills the Princes of Midian

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set up the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 Then the three [k]companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing and called out, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!” 21 And each stood in his place around the camp. Then (L)all of the camp ran, and they made a loud shout and fled. 22 So they blew 300 trumpets. And (M)Yahweh set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole camp. And the camp fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of (N)Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were summoned from (O)Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

24 Now Gideon had sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian and (P)capture the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 Then they captured the two princes of Midian, (Q)Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon (R)from across the Jordan.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 7:1 Or En-Harod
  2. Judges 7:1 Lit him
  3. Judges 7:3 Or please
  4. Judges 7:8 Lit they
  5. Judges 7:8 Lit he
  6. Judges 7:11 Lit extremity of the battle array
  7. Judges 7:13 Lit dreamed
  8. Judges 7:13 Lit and behold, a loaf
  9. Judges 7:13 Lit upwards
  10. Judges 7:16 Lit heads
  11. Judges 7:20 Lit heads
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Judges 7
New English Translation

Gideon Reduces the Ranks

7 Jerub Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men[a] got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod.[b] The Midianites[c] were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you.[d] Israel might brag,[e] ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’[f] 3 Now, announce to the men,[g] ‘Whoever is shaking with fear[h] may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’”[i] 22,000 men[j] went home;[k] 10,000 remained. 4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men.[l] Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more.[m] When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go;[n] when I say,[o] ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.”[p] 5 So he brought the men[q] down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.”[r] 6 Only 300 men lapped with their hands to their mouths;[s] the rest of the men[t] kneeled to drink water. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will deliver the whole army[u] and I will hand Midian over to you.[v] The rest of the men should go home.”[w] 8 The men[x] who were chosen[y] took supplies[z] and their trumpets. Gideon[aa] sent all the men of Israel back to their homes;[ab] he kept only 300 men. Now the Midianites[ac] were camped down below[ad] in the valley.

Gideon Reassured of Victory

9 That night the Lord said to Gideon,[ae] “Get up! Attack[af] the camp, for I am handing it over to you.[ag] 10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant 11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave[ah] and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp.[ai] 12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.[aj] Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had.[ak] The man[al] said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw[am] a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.”[an] 14 The other man said,[ao] “Without a doubt this symbolizes[ap] the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

Gideon Routs the Enemy

15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God.[aq] Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 16 He divided the 300 men into three units.[ar] He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them.[as] 17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely![at] I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

19 Gideon took 100 men to the edge of the camp[au] at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying.[av] 20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right.[aw] Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 They stood in order[ax] all around the camp. The whole Midianite[ay] army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away.[az] 22 When the 300 men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords[ba] throughout[bb] the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went[bc] to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites.[bd]

Gideon Appeases the Ephraimites

24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites.[be] Take control of the fords of the streams[bf] all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.”[bg] When all the Ephraimites had assembled,[bh] they took control of the fords[bi] all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb.[bj] They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb[bk] in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites[bl] and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River.[bm]

Footnotes

  1. Judges 7:1 tn Heb “and all the people who were with him.”
  2. Judges 7:1 sn The name Harod means, ironically, “trembling.”
  3. Judges 7:1 tn Heb “Midian.” The LXX reads “and Amalek” (cf. v. 12; 6:33).
  4. Judges 7:2 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
  5. Judges 7:2 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
  6. Judges 7:2 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
  7. Judges 7:3 tn Heb “call into the ears of the people.”
  8. Judges 7:3 tn Heb “afraid and shaking.”
  9. Judges 7:3 tc Many interpreters reject the MT reading “and leave Mount Gilead” for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, “So Gideon tested them” (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).
  10. Judges 7:3 tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because warriors are in view, and in ancient Israelite culture these would be only males. (This is also the case in vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
  11. Judges 7:3 tn Or “turned around, back.”
  12. Judges 7:4 tn Heb “too many people.”
  13. Judges 7:4 tn Heb “test them for you there.”
  14. Judges 7:4 tn Heb “he should go with you.”
  15. Judges 7:4 tn Heb also has “about anyone to you.”
  16. Judges 7:4 tn Heb “he should not go.”
  17. Judges 7:5 tn Heb “the people.”
  18. Judges 7:5 tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”
  19. Judges 7:6 tc The Hebrew phrase, “with their hands to their mouths.” is difficult in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would presumably use their hands). The words “with their hands to their mouths” may have been misplaced. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place. But on the other hand since the 300 men were the men selected for the army, lapping with their hands to their mouth would allow them to see their surroundings which would be a good procedure for a soldier. The kneelers were sent away presumably because they made themselves more vulnerable to enemy attack.
  20. Judges 7:6 tn Heb “the people.”
  21. Judges 7:7 tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
  22. Judges 7:7 tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
  23. Judges 7:7 tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
  24. Judges 7:8 tn Heb “The people.”
  25. Judges 7:8 tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  26. Judges 7:8 tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”
  27. Judges 7:8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  28. Judges 7:8 tn Heb “tents.”
  29. Judges 7:8 tn Heb “Midian.”
  30. Judges 7:8 tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).
  31. Judges 7:9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  32. Judges 7:9 tn Heb “Go down against.”
  33. Judges 7:9 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
  34. Judges 7:11 tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
  35. Judges 7:11 tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
  36. Judges 7:12 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
  37. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
  38. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  39. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
  40. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”
  41. Judges 7:14 tn Heb “answered and said.”
  42. Judges 7:14 tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”
  43. Judges 7:15 tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”
  44. Judges 7:16 tn Heb “heads.”
  45. Judges 7:16 tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.sn They hid the torches inside the earthenware jars to disguise their approach and to keep the torches from being extinguished by the breeze.
  46. Judges 7:17 tn Or “look.”
  47. Judges 7:19 tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the 100 men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”
  48. Judges 7:19 tn Heb “that were in their hands.”
  49. Judges 7:20 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  50. Judges 7:21 tn Heb “each in his place.”
  51. Judges 7:21 tn “Midianite” has been supplied here for clarity.
  52. Judges 7:21 tn Or “fled.”
  53. Judges 7:22 tn Heb “the Lord set the sword of each one against his friend.”
  54. Judges 7:22 tc MT has “and throughout the camp,” but the conjunction (“and”) is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.
  55. Judges 7:22 tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  56. Judges 7:23 tn Heb “Midian.”
  57. Judges 7:24 tn Heb “to meet Midian.”
  58. Judges 7:24 tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”
  59. Judges 7:24 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).
  60. Judges 7:24 tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”
  61. Judges 7:24 tn Heb “they captured the waters.”
  62. Judges 7:25 sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.
  63. Judges 7:25 tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  64. Judges 7:25 tn Heb “Midian.”
  65. Judges 7:25 tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).
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