Judges 7:9-14
New English Translation
Gideon Reassured of Victory
9 That night the Lord said to Gideon,[a] “Get up! Attack[b] the camp, for I am handing it over to you.[c] 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[d] and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp.[e] 12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.[f] 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.[g] The man[h] said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw[i] 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.”[j] 14 The other man said,[k] “Without a doubt this symbolizes[l] the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 7:9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 7:9 tn Heb “Go down against.”
- Judges 7:9 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
- Judges 7:11 tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
- Judges 7:11 tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
- Judges 7:12 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
- Judges 7:13 tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
- Judges 7:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 7:13 tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
- 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.”
- Judges 7:14 tn Heb “answered and said.”
- Judges 7:14 tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”
Judges 7:9-14
International Standard Version
Gideon Sneaks Down to the Midianite Encampment
9 Later that same night, the Lord directed Gideon,[a] “Get up and go down to the Midianite[b] encampment, because I’ve given it into your control. 10 But if you’re afraid to go down there, you may take your servant Purah with you to their encampment, 11 where you will hear what they’re talking about. That way, you’ll be encouraged to attack the encampment.” So he and his servant Purah went down to the perimeter outposts of the encamped army.
12 The Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups[c] from the east lay encamped in the valley, as thick as locusts. The number of their camels couldn’t be calculated—they seemed as numerous as the sand on the seashore. 13 Gideon arrived just as a soldier was talking to a friend about a dream. “Look!” he was saying. “I had a dream that went like this: A loaf of barley bread rolled into the Midianite encampment, came to a tent, and collided with it. The loaf of bread fell down, turned upside down, and the tent collapsed!”
14 Then his friend replied, “Can this be anything else than the sword of Joash’s son Gideon, that man from Israel? God must have given Midian and the entire encampment into his control!”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 7:9 Lit. him
- Judges 7:9 The Heb. lacks Midianite
- Judges 7:12 Lit. and sons
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