Judges 6:5

5 They would come with their livestock and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land,

Judges 6:5 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:5

For they came up with their cattle, and their tents
Brought their flocks and their herds with them, to eat up the increase of the earth, and their tents, which they pitched and removed from place to place, for the convenience of feeding their cattle, and while they cut down the fruit of the earth everywhere, which serves to confirm the sense of the Targum and Vulgate Latin version of ( Judges 6:5 )

and they came as grasshoppers for multitude;
or "as locusts" ^F3, they were like them for their number, and for devouring all they came to:

and their camels were without number;
which they brought with them, to load and carry off their plunder they could not eat. Midian was a place famous for camels and dromedaries, ( Isaiah 60:6 ) and so Arabia, the people of which joined the Midianites in this expedition; of whom Leo Africanus says ^F4, that they reckon of their riches and possessions by their camels; wherefore if anyone speaks of the riches of such a prince or nobleman, he says that he is possessed of so many camels, and not of so many thousands of pieces of gold, see ( Job 1:3 )

and they entered into the city to destroy it;
this was their sole view. In suchlike manner as this did Alyattes king of the Lydians make war with the Milesinns, as Herodotus ^F5 relates; which passage Grotius has quoted at large.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (hbra ydk) "tanquam locustae", Pagninus, V. L. Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F4 Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 745.
F5 Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 17.

Judges 6:5 In-Context

3 Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites would come with the Amalekites and the desert tribes and attack them.

4 They would camp on the land and destroy the crops as far south as the area around Gaza. They would take all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys, and leave nothing for the Israelites to live on.

5 They would come with their livestock and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land,

6 and Israel was helpless against them.

7 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help against the Midianites,