Judges 7:17

17 And he said to them, "Watch me and do the same. When I come to the edge of the camp, {do just as I do}.

Judges 7:17 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 7:17

And he said unto them, look on me, and do likewise
Observe what I do, and do the same, in blowing a trumpet, breaking a pitcher, and shouting with the words expressed by him:

and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp;
where the sentinels stood, and the watch was set:

it shall be, that as I do, so shall ye do;
and not before; a trumpet was not to be blown, nor a pitcher broken, nor a torch held out, nor a word spoken, till just they came to the outside of the camp: and then they were to observe the motions of Gideon, and do as he did.

Judges 7:17 In-Context

15 When Gideon heard the recounting of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and returned to the camp of Israel; and he said, "Get up, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hand."

16 He divided the three hundred men [into] three companies, and he put trumpets and empty jars in everyone's hand, with torches inside the jars.

17 And he said to them, "Watch me and do the same. When I come to the edge of the camp, {do just as I do}.

18 When I and all who [are] with me blow on the trumpet, you must also blow on the trumpets and surround the camp, and you must say, 'To Yahweh and to Gideon!'"

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who [were] with him came to the edge of the camp [at] the beginning of the middle night-watch, when they had just finished setting up the guards, and they blew on the trumpets and smashed the jars that [were] in their hands.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "just as I will do, you must do"