Judges 6:8-18

8 the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, "This is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.

9 I delivered you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

10 I said to you: I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey Me.' "

The Lord Calls Gideon

11 The Angel^[a] of the Lord ^[b] came, and He^[c] sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites.

12 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

13 Gideon said to Him, "Please Sir,^[d] if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened?^[e] And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, 'Hasn't the Lord brought us out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian."

14 The Lord ^[f] turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?"^[g]

15 He said to Him, "Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."

16 "But I will be with you," the Lord said to him. "You will strike Midian down [as if it were] one man."

17 Then he said to Him, "If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that You are speaking with me.

18 Please do not leave this place until I return to You. Let me bring my gift and set it before You." And He said, "I will stay until you return."

Judges 6:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 6

In this chapter we have an account of the distressed condition Israel was in through the Midianites, Jud 6:1-6, of a prophet being sent unto them to reprieve them for their sins, Jud 6:7-10 of an angel appearing to Gideon, with an order to him to go and save Israel out of the hands of the Midianites, Jud 6:11-16 and of a sign given him by the angel, whereby he knew this order was of God, Jud 6:17-24, and of the reformation from idolatry in his father's family he made upon this, throwing down the altar of Baal, and building one for the Lord, Jud 6:25-32, and of the preparation he made to fight the Midianites and others, Jud 6:33-35, but first desired a sign of the Lord, that Israel would be saved by his hand, which was granted and repeated, Jud 6:36-40.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or angel
• [b]. Ex 3:12
• [c]. Or he (and so throughout this chap if this angel is a divine messenger and not a theophany)
• [d]. Lit Please, my Lord, or Please, my lord
• [e]. Lit this found us out
• [f]. LXX reads The Angel of the Lord
• [g]. Ex 3:12