Judges 6:24

24 Then Gideon builded there an altar to the Lord, and he called it the Peace of the Lord, (and it is there) unto this present day. And when he was yet in Ophrah, which is of the family of Abiezrites, (Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and he called it Jehovahshalom, and it is there unto this present day, in Ophrah, which is of the family of the Abiezrites.)

Judges 6:24 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:24

Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord
On the top of the rock where he had laid his provisions, and which had been consumed by fire issuing out of it, as a token of divine acceptance, and as an assurance of his destroying the Midianites as easily and quickly as the fire had consumed them, and therefore had great encouragement to erect an altar here for God:

and called it Jehovahshalom;
the Lord is peace, the author and giver of peace, temporal, spiritual, and eternal; so Jarchi,

``the Lord is our peace,''

a fit name for the angel that appeared to him, who was no other than the man of peace; who is our peace, the author of peace between God and man. This name he gave the altar, with respect to the words of comfort said to him in his fright,

peace be to thee;
and by way of prophecy, that peace would be wrought for Israel by the Lord, and prosperity given them; or by way of prayer, the Lord grant or send peace:

unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites;
that is, the altar Gideon built remained to the times of Samuel, the writer of this book, and was then to be seen in the city of Ophrah, which belonged to the family of the Abiezrites, who were of the tribe of Manasseh.

Judges 6:24 In-Context

22 And Gideon saw that he was an angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas to me, for I saw the angel of the Lord face to face. (And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas for me, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.)
23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be with thee; dread thou not (fear not ), thou shalt not die.
24 Then Gideon builded there an altar to the Lord, and he called it the Peace of the Lord, (and it is there) unto this present day. And when he was yet in Ophrah, which is of the family of Abiezrites, (Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and he called it Jehovahshalom, and it is there unto this present day, in Ophrah, which is of the family of the Abiezrites.)
25 the Lord said to him in that night, Take thou thy father's bull, and another bull of seven years, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, that is thy father's, and cut thou down the wood, which is about the altar; (And then the Lord said to him that night, Take thou thy father's bull, and another bull that is seven years old, and destroy thou the altar of Baal, that is thy father's, and cut thou down the pole of idolatry, which is beside the altar;)
26 and thou shalt build an altar to thy Lord God in the highness of this stone, on which thou puttedest (the) sacrifice before; and thou shalt take the second bull, and thou shalt offer (a) burnt sacrifice on the heap of trees, which thou cuttedest down of the wood. (and thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God on top of this stone, on which before thou hast put the sacrifice; and thou shalt take the second bull, and thou shalt offer a burnt sacrifice on the heap of wood from the pole of idolatry which thou hast cut down.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.