Judges 6:12-22

12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior."

13 Then Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But ¹now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."

14 The LORD looked at him and said, "²Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?"

15 ³He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in ⁴Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."

16 ⁵But the LORD said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man."

17 So Gideon said to Him, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me ⁶a sign that it is You who speak with me.

18 "Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You." And He said, "I will remain until you return."

19 Then Gideon went in and ⁷prepared a young * goat * and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.

20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.

21 Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and ⁸fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

22 ⁹When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now * I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face."

Judges 6:12-22 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.

Cross References

• 1. Judges 6:1; Psalms 44:9
• 2. Hebrews 11:32-34
• 3. Exodus 3:11
• 4. Judges 6:11
• 5. Exodus 3:12; Joshua 1:5
• 6. Judges 6:37; Isaiah 38:7, 8
• 7. Genesis 18:6-8
• 8. Leviticus 9:24
• 9. Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:20; Judges 13:21, 22

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "turned toward"
• [b]. Lit "with what"
• [c]. Lit "smite"
• [d]. Lit "he"
• [e]. I.e. Approx one bu
• [f]. Lit "and he put"
• [g]. Or "terebinth"
• [h]. Or "departed"
• [i]. Lit "Gideon"
• [j]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD