Judges 7:11

11 and after you hear what they are saying, you will have the courage to attack the camp." So with his servant Purah he went down to the outposts of the camp.

Judges 7:11 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 7:11

And thou shalt hear what they shall say
The Midianites, or what shall be said by any of them; for though it was the night season, and so not a time for much conversation, as it may be supposed to be the dead of the night; yet something would be said and heard, which is a clear proof of the prescience of God respecting future contingent events:

and afterwards shall thine hands be strengthened;
and his heart encouraged by what he should hear:

to go down into the camp;
in an hostile manner, with his three hundred men, after his return to them:

then went he down with Phurah his servant;
first privately, only they two, leaving his little army on the hill: and came

unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host;
the sentinels, who were without side the camp, and stood complete in armour to guard it; and they came as near to them, in as still and private manner as they could, without being discovered. The Septuagint version is,

``to the beginning of the fifty that were in the host;''

and the Syriac and Arabic versions,

``to the captain of the fifty;''

these might be a party of the outer guards, consisting of fifty men, with one at the head of them, placed for the safety of the army in the night season, and to give notice of any approach to them, or attempt on them.

Judges 7:11 In-Context

9 That night ADONAI said to him, "Get up and attack the camp, because I have handed it over to you.

10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down with your servant Purah;

11 and after you hear what they are saying, you will have the courage to attack the camp." So with his servant Purah he went down to the outposts of the camp.

12 Now Midyan, 'Amalek and all the others from the east had settled in the valley as thick as locusts; their camels too were beyond counting, like the sand on the seashore.

13 Gid'on got there just as a man was telling a comrade about a dream he had had: "I just now dreamt that a loaf of barley bread fell into the camp of Midyan, came to the tent and struck it so hard that it overturned the tent and knocked it flat."