Judges 6:29

29 {And they said to one another}, "Who did this thing?" So they searched and inquired, and they said, "Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing."

Judges 6:29 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:29

And they said one to another, who hath done this thing?
&c.] They were struck with amazement, and could not devise who could be so daring and wicked as to do such an action:

and when they inquired and asked;
one and another, everyone present, or they could think of as proper to inquire of; they were very diligent and industrious to find it out; and perhaps they inquired of the family and servants of Joash and Gideon, in whose ground the altar stood:

they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing;
when they had inquired of everybody they could, and thought of one person and another, there was none appeared to them more likely to have done it, than Gideon; partly because they knew he was no friend of Baal, and partly because he was a man of spirit and courage, and they concluded none but such an one would have ventured to have done it; and besides, they considered he was the son of Joash, who perhaps was their chief magistrate, and that he might presume on his father's protection, as they might surprise; and being near the premises, he was the most likely person they could think of; and it is not improbable, that upon inquiry they got it out of the servants concerned, or that had knowledge of it from them, or from some that saw him that morning at the sacrifice, or returning from it, and therefore peremptorily assert he was the man that did it.

Judges 6:29 In-Context

27 Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his {father's family} and the men of the city to do [it during] the day, he did [it during] night.
28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that [was] beside it [were] cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.
29 {And they said to one another}, "Who did this thing?" So they searched and inquired, and they said, "Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing."
30 And the men of the city said to Jehoash, "Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that [was] beside it."
31 But Jehoash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he [is] a god, let him contend for himself because {his altar has been pulled down}."

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "And each man to his neighbor said"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.