Judges 6:4

4 The enemy used to camp on the land and destroy the crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to live on--not one sheep, cow, or donkey.

Judges 6:4 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:4

And they encamped against them
Formed a camp, from whence they sent out parties to plunder the people; or

``they were fixing their tents among them,''

as the Vulgate Latin version; and so the Targum,

``they dwelt by them,''

or fixed their habitations by them; for they seem not to have come as a regular army, but as a sort of banditti to pillage, and plunder, and destroy the fruits of the earth; and the Midianites and Arabians dwelt in tents chiefly:

and destroyed the increase of the earth;
the corn and grass before they were well ripe, and fit to cut down; this they did, and gave it to their cattle, and the rest they carried off:

till thou come unto Gaza;
a principality of the Philistines, which lay in the western part of Canaan, on the shore of the Mediterranean sea; so that as these people came out of the east, and entered the eastern part, they went through the whole land from east to west, cutting down all the fruits of the earth for forage for their cattle:

and left no sustenance for Israel;
nothing to support life with, cutting down their corn and their grass, their vines and olives, so that they had nothing to live upon:

neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass;
not anything for those creatures to live upon, nor did not leave any of them, but carried them all away.

Judges 6:4 In-Context

2 Midian's power was too strong for Israel. The Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, caves, and mountain strongholds [to protect themselves] from Midian.

3 Whenever Israel planted crops, Midian, Amalek, and Kedem came and damaged the crops.

4 The enemy used to camp on the land and destroy the crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to live on--not one sheep, cow, or donkey.

5 Like swarms of locusts, they came with their livestock and their tents. They and their camels could not be counted. They came into the land only to ruin it.

6 So the Israelites became very poor because of Midian and cried out to the LORD for help.