And he said unto him, oh my Lord
Whether he had yet suspected who he was, or took him still for
some eminent person, is not certain; it is very probable he began
to think he was some extraordinary person sent of God, and
speaking in his name, and therefore expostulates with him about
the work he put him upon:
wherewith shall I save Israel?
in what way is it possible for me to do it, who had neither men
nor money sufficient for such an undertaking?
behold, my family is poor in Manasseh;
of which tribe he was, and the "thousand" in it, as the word
F12 here used signifies, was the
meanest of all the thousands in that tribe; some render it, "my
father" F13:
and I am the least in my father's house;
perhaps the youngest son; though some take him, and others his
father, to be the Chiliarch, or head of the thousand; but by
these words of his it does not seem as if either was true; not
but that he was of some wealth and substance, power and
authority, by having such a number of servants as to take "ten"
of them with him, ( Judges 6:27 ) however,
this he says in great humility and modesty, having no high
thoughts of himself and family, nor any dependence on his own
strength, and on an arm of flesh.