Judges 6:12

12 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

Judges 6:12 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:12

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him
He stayed some time under the oak, and Gideon being busy in threshing, took no notice of him wherefore he came and stood before him, in his sight:

and said unto him, the Lord is with thee;
the gracious presence of God was with Gideon while he was threshing, who very probably was sending up ejaculations to heaven, on account of the distressed case of Israel, and was deep in meditation about the affairs of the people of God, and contriving how to deliver them; or the angel might mean himself, who was no other than Jehovah, the eternal Word of God, who was present with him, and spake unto him; and so the Targum,

``my Word is thy help:''

thou mighty man of valour;
who very probably was a stout man in body, and of a courageous mind naturally, and might at this instant have an increase both of bodily strength and greatness of soul; or, however, this was said to animate and encourage him to do what he was about to be sent to do.

Judges 6:12 In-Context

10 I said to you: I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey Me.' "

11 The Angel of the Lord came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites.

12 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

13 Gideon said to Him, "Please Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, 'Hasn't the Lord brought us out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian."

14 The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?"