Judges 7:10

10 But what if you are afraid to attack? Then go down to the camp with your servant Purah.

Judges 7:10 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 7:10

But if thou fear to go down
With his little army, to attack a numerous host in the night, then he is directed to take this step first:

go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host;
in a private manner; perhaps this man was his aid-de-camp, or however a trusty servant in whom he could confide, as well as valiant: more it was not proper to take in such a secret expedition, and the fewer the better to trust, and less liable to the observation of the enemy; and yet it was proper to have one with him, being company and animating, and who would be a witness with him of what should be heard; in like manner, and for like reasons, as Diomedes and Ulysses went into the Trojan army ^F25.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Homer. Iliad. 10. ver. 222

Judges 7:10 In-Context

8 So Gideon sent the rest of the men of Israel to their tents. But he kept the 300 men. They took over the supplies and trumpets the others had left. The Midianites had set up their camp in the valley below where Gideon was.

9 During that night the LORD spoke to Gideon. He said, "Get up. Go down against the camp. I am going to hand it over to you.

10 But what if you are afraid to attack? Then go down to the camp with your servant Purah.

11 Listen to what they are saying. After that, you will not be afraid to attack the camp." So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the camp.

12 The Midianites had settled in the valley. So had the Amalekites and all of the other tribes from the east. There were so many of them that they looked like huge numbers of locusts. Like the grains of sand on the seashore, their camels couldn't be counted.