Judges 6:11

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

Judges 6:11 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
English Standard Version (ESV)
11 Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
New Living Translation (NLT)
11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.
The Message Bible (MSG)
11 One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites.
American Standard Version (ASV)
11 And the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
11 The Messenger of the LORD came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash from Abiezer's family. Joash's son Gideon was beating out wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
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.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
11 The angel of the LORD came. He sat down under an oak tree in Ophrah. The tree belonged to Joash. He was from the family line of Abiezer. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress at Ophrah. He was the son of Joash. Gideon was threshing in a winepress to hide the wheat from the Midianites.

Judges 6:11 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:11

And there came an angel of the Lord
This was not the prophet before mentioned, as Ben Gersom thinks, but an angel of God, as expressed, and not a created one, but the Angel of Jehovah's presence, the Word and Son of God, and who is expressly called Jehovah himself, ( Judges 6:14 Judges 6:23 Judges 6:24 )

and sat under an oak;
or stayed there a while, as Kimchi interprets it, seeing, according to his observation, angels are not said to sit, but stand:

which was in Ophrah, that pertaineth to Joash the Abiezrite;
which shows that this Ophrah is different from a city of this name in the tribe of Benjamin, ( Joshua 18:23 ) for the oak that was in it, under which the angel sat, belonged to Joash an Abiezrite, a descendant of Abiezer, son of the sister of Gilead, who was the son of Machir the son of Manasseh, ( Joshua 17:2 ) ( 1 Chronicles 7:17 1 Chronicles 7:18 1 Chronicles 7:14 ) , it is called by Josephus F8 Ephra, and by Jerom F9 Ephrata:

and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from
the Midianites;
lest they should take it away, and bereave his father's family of their sustenance, as they were wont to do, wherever they could find it; and all circumstances attending this affair were on this account; he threshed it himself, this he chose to do, and not trust his servants, lest it should be discovered; and he beat the wheat out with a staff, that it might be more silently done, and not with oxen, which was the usual way of treading out corn, who, bellowing F11, would discover it; and this was done not on a threshing floor, but where a winepress stood, where there could be no suspicion of such work being doing.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 6. sect. 5, 7.
F9 De loc. Heb. fol. 90. K.
F11 Vid. Homer. Iliad. 20. ver. 495, 496, 497.

Judges 6:11 In-Context

9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10 I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Cross References 7

  • 1. S Genesis 16:7
  • 2. S Joshua 18:23
  • 3. ver 29; Judges 7:14; Judges 8:13,29
  • 4. S Numbers 26:30; Joshua 17:2
  • 5. Judges 7:1; Judges 8:1; Hebrews 11:32
  • 6. Ruth 2:17; Ruth 3:2; 1 Samuel 23:1; 1 Chronicles 21:20
  • 7. Nehemiah 13:15; Isaiah 16:10; Isaiah 63:3; Lamentations 1:15; Joel 3:13
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