Judges 7:1-8
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.
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- Judges 7:1 tn Heb “and all the people who were with him.”
- Judges 7:1 sn The name Harod means, ironically, “trembling.”
- Judges 7:1 tn Heb “Midian.” The LXX reads “and Amalek” (cf. v. 12; 6:33).
- Judges 7:2 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
- Judges 7:2 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
- Judges 7:2 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
- Judges 7:3 tn Heb “call into the ears of the people.”
- Judges 7:3 tn Heb “afraid and shaking.”
- 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).
- 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.)
- Judges 7:3 tn Or “turned around, back.”
- Judges 7:4 tn Heb “too many people.”
- Judges 7:4 tn Heb “test them for you there.”
- Judges 7:4 tn Heb “he should go with you.”
- Judges 7:4 tn Heb also has “about anyone to you.”
- Judges 7:4 tn Heb “he should not go.”
- Judges 7:5 tn Heb “the people.”
- 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.”
- 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.
- Judges 7:6 tn Heb “the people.”
- Judges 7:7 tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
- Judges 7:7 tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
- Judges 7:7 tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
- Judges 7:8 tn Heb “The people.”
- Judges 7:8 tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 7:8 tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”
- Judges 7:8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 7:8 tn Heb “tents.”
- Judges 7:8 tn Heb “Midian.”
- Judges 7:8 tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).
Judges 7:1-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites
7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod, and the camp of Midian was north of them, below[a] the hill of Moreh, in the valley.(A)
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’(B) 3 Now, therefore, proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’ ” Thus Gideon sifted them out;[b] twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.(C)
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water, and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you, and when I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”(D) 5 So he brought the troops down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths,[c] you shall put to the other side.” 6 The number of those who lapped was three hundred, but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred who lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.”(E) 8 So the people took provisions in their hands and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel back to their own tents but retained the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
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