Judges 6

The Midianites Oppresses Israel

1 The {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years.

2 The hand of the Midianites prevailed over Israel; because of the presence of the Midianites, the {Israelites} made for themselves hiding places that [were] in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

3 And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of [the] east would come up against them.

4 They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land {as far as} Gaza; they left no produce in Israel, or sheep, ox, or donkey.

5 For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it.

6 Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites, and the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh.

7 When the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh on account of the Midianites,

8 Yahweh sent a prophet to the {Israelites}, and he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you from the house of slavery.

9 I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from {before you}; and I gave you their land.

10 And I said to you, 'I [am] Yahweh your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you [are] living.' But you have not listened to my voice."

The Angel of Yahweh Calls Gideon

11 The angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak that [was] at Ophrah that belonged to Jehoash [the] Abiezrite; and Gideon his son [was] threshing wheat in the winepress to hide [it] from the Midianites.

12 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, "Yahweh [is] with you, {you mighty warrior}."

13 Gideon said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. [If] Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, 'Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has forsaken us; he has given us into the palm of Midian."

14 And Yahweh turned to him and said, "Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?"

15 He said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan [is] the weakest in Manasseh, and I [am] the youngest in my father's house."

16 And Yahweh said to him, "But I will be with you, and you will defeat Midian {as if they are one man}."

17 And he said to him, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, {show me a sign} that you [are] speaking with me.

18 Please, do not depart from here until I come [back] to you and bring out my gift and set it out before you." And he said, "I will stay until you return."

19 And Gideon went and prepared {a young goat} and unleavened cakes [from] an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought [them] to him under the oak and presented [them].

20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put [them] on this rock; pour the broth [over it]." And he did so.

21 Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that [was] in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went {from his sight}.

22 And Gideon realized that he [was] the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face."

23 And Yahweh said to him, "Peace be with you. Do not fear; you will not die."

24 And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it "Yahweh [is] peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah [of the] Abiezrites.

25 Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, "Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;

26 and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer [it as] a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you will cut down.

27 Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his {father's family} and the men of the city to do [it during] the day, he did [it during] night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that [was] beside it [were] cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.

29 {And they said to one another}, "Who did this thing?" So they searched and inquired, and they said, "Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing."

30 And the men of the city said to Jehoash, "Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that [was] beside it."

31 But Jehoash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he [is] a god, let him contend for himself because {his altar has been pulled down}."

32 Thus, on that day he was called Jerub-Baal, {which means}, "Let Baal contend against him," because he had pulled down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of [the] east gathered together and crossed [the Jordan]; and they camped in the valley of Jezreel.

34 So the Spirit of Yahweh {took possession of} Gideon, and he blew on the trumpet, and [the] Abiezrites were called to follow him.

35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they were also called to follow him; and he sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

Gideon Tests Yahweh With the Fleece

36 Then Gideon said to God, "In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said,

37 I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground [is] dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said."

38 And it was so. He arose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and he wrung out dew from the fleece, a full drinking bowl of water.

39 And Gideon said to God, "{Do not let your anger burn} against me; let me speak once more. Please let me test once more with the fleece; let the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground."

40 And God did so that night; only the fleece was dry, and dew was on all the ground.

Judges 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

Israel oppressed by Midianites. (1-6) Israel rebuked by a prophet. (7-10) Gideon set to deliver Israel. (11-24) Gideon destroys Baal's altar. (25-32) Signs given him. (33-40)

Verses 1-6 Israel's sin was renewed, and Israel's troubles were repeated. Let all that sin expect to suffer. The Israelites hid themselves in dens and caves; such was the effect of a guilty conscience. Sin dispirits men. The invaders left no food for Israel, except what was taken into the caves. They prepared that for Baal with which God should have been served, now God justly sends an enemy to take it away in the season thereof.

Verses 7-10 They cried to God for a deliverer, and he sent them a prophet to teach them. When God furnishes a land with faithful ministers, it is a token that he has mercy in store for it. He charges them with rebellion against the Lord; he intends to bring them to repentance. Repentance is real when the sinfulness of sin, as disobedience to God, is chiefly lamented.

Verses 11-24 Gideon was a man of a brave, active spirit, yet in obscurity through the times: he is here stirred up to undertake something great. It was very sure that the Lord was with him, when his Angel was with him. Gideon was weak in faith, which made it hard to reconcile the assurances of the presence of God with the distress to which Israel was brought. The Angel answered his objections. He told him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer, there needed no more. Bishop Hall says, While God calls Gideon valiant, he makes him so. God delights to advance the humble. Gideon desires to have his faith confirmed. Now, under the influences of the Spirit, we are not to expect signs before our eyes such as Gideon here desired, but must earnestly pray to God, that if we have found grace in his sight, he would show us a sign in our heart, by the powerful working of his Spirit there, The Angel turned the meat into an offering made by fire; showing that he was not a man who needed meat, but the Son of God, who was to be served and honoured by sacrifice, and who in the fulness of time was to make himself a sacrifice. Hereby a sign was given to Gideon, that he had found grace in God's sight. Ever since man has by sin exposed himself to God's wrath and curse, a message from heaven has been a terror to him, as he scarcely dares to expect good tidings thence. In this world, it is very awful to have any converse with that world of spirits to which we are so much strangers. Gideon's courage failed him. But God spoke peace to him.

Verses 25-32 See the power of God's grace, that he could raise up a reformer; and the kindness of his grace, that he would raise up a deliverer, out of the family of a leader in idolatry. Gideon must not think it enough not to worship at that altar; he must throw it down, and offer sacrifice on another. It was needful he should make peace with God, before he made war on Midian. Till sin be pardoned through the great Sacrifice, no good is to be expected. God, who has all hearts in his hands, influenced Joash to appear for his son against the advocates for Baal, though he had joined formerly in the worship of Baal. Let us do our duty, and trust God with our safety. Here is a challenge to Baal, to do either good or evil; the result convinced his worshippers of their folly, in praying to one to help them that could not avenge himself.

Verses 33-40 These signs are truly miraculous, and very significant. Gideon and his men were going to fight the Midianites; could God distinguish between a small fleece of Israel, and the vast floor of Midian? Gideon is made to know that God could do so. Is Gideon desirous that the dew of Divine grace might come down upon himself in particular? He sees the fleece wet with dew to assure him of it. Does he desire that God will be as the dew to all Israel? Behold, all the ground is wet. What cause we sinners of the Gentiles have, to bless the Lord that the dew of heavenly blessings, once confined to Israel, is now sent to all the inhabitants of the earth! Yet still the means of grace are in different measures, according to the purposes of God. In the same congregation, one man's soul is like Gideon's moistened fleece, another like the dry ground.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [b]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [c]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [d]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [e]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [f]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [g]. Hebrew "Amalekite"
• [h]. Literally "until your coming to"
• [i]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [j]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [k]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [l]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [m]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [n]. Hebrew "slaves"
• [o]. Literally "your face/presence"
• [p]. Or "revere"
• [q]. Hebrew "Amorite"
• [r]. Or "terebinth"
• [s]. Or "keep [it] away"
• [t]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [u]. Literally "strong/mighty of power"
• [v]. Or "fathers"
• [w]. Literally "as one man"
• [x]. That is, Gideon
• [y]. Literally "make a sign for me"
• [z]. Or "in your presence"
• [aa]. Literally "a kid of goat"
• [ab]. Or "terebinth"
• [ac]. Literally "from his eyes"
• [ad]. Hebrew "Abiezrite"
• [ae]. An Asherah is a cultic pole set up next to an altar symbolizing the goddess Asherah
• [af]. An Asherah is a cultic pole set up next to an altar symbolizing the goddess Asherah
• [ag]. Or "spoke to him"
• [ah]. Literally "father's house"
• [ai]. An Asherah is a cultic pole set up next to an altar symbolizing the goddess Asherah
• [aj]. Literally "And each man to his neighbor said"
• [ak]. Or "who arrayed against him"
• [al]. Literally "because he has pulled down his altar"; the subject in Hebrew has not been specified
• [am]. That is, Gideon
• [an]. Literally "saying"
• [ao]. Hebrew "Midianite"
• [ap]. Hebrew "Amalekite"
• [aq]. Literally "clothed"
• [ar]. Hebrew "Abiezerite"
• [as]. Literally "Do not let your nose become hot"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 6

In this chapter we have an account of the distressed condition Israel was in through the Midianites, Jud 6:1-6, of a prophet being sent unto them to reprieve them for their sins, Jud 6:7-10 of an angel appearing to Gideon, with an order to him to go and save Israel out of the hands of the Midianites, Jud 6:11-16 and of a sign given him by the angel, whereby he knew this order was of God, Jud 6:17-24, and of the reformation from idolatry in his father's family he made upon this, throwing down the altar of Baal, and building one for the Lord, Jud 6:25-32, and of the preparation he made to fight the Midianites and others, Jud 6:33-35, but first desired a sign of the Lord, that Israel would be saved by his hand, which was granted and repeated, Jud 6:36-40.