Shofetim 6:2

2 And the yad Midyan prevailed against Yisroel; and because of Midyan the Bnei Yisroel made them dens in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds.

Shofetim 6:2 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:2

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel
They were too strong for them, and overcame them, and brought them into subjection to them, and no wonder, when the Lord delivered them into their hand:

and because of the Midianites;
because of their usage of them, their manner of coming upon them yearly, and pillaging and plundering their substance, as after related:

the children of Israel made them dens which are in the mountains;
the word for "dens" has the signification of light in it, and are so called either by an antiphrasis, because they were dark, or, as Kimchi thinks, because they had a window at the top of them, which let in the light

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 but Ben Gersom conjectures they were torches, which gave a great light, and when they that held them saw from the mountains the Midianites, by these torches they made a signal to the Israelites to take care and hide themselves and their substance:

and caves, and strong holds;
the caves were for the poorer sort, and the strong holds for the richer to retire to with their goods; though, according to Jarchi, the latter were no other than fences they made in woods, by cutting down trees, and setting them round about them, perhaps much the same as the thickets, ( 1 Samuel 13:6 ) .

F1 So David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 90. 3. or "because men flowed and flocked to them for safety"; so Buxtorf.

Shofetim 6:2 In-Context

1 And the Bnei Yisroel did evil in the sight of Hashem; Hashem delivered them into the yad Midyan [See Gn.25:2] sheva shanim.

2 And the yad Midyan prevailed against Yisroel; and because of Midyan the Bnei Yisroel made them dens in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds.

3 And so it was, when Yisroel had sown, that Midyan came up, and Amalek, and the Bnei Kedem, even they came up against them;

4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of ha’aretz, till thou come unto Azah (Gaza), and left no sustenance for Yisroel, neither seh, nor ox, nor donkey.

5 For they came up with their cattle and their ohalim, and they came as a swarm of arbeh for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number; and they entered into ha’aretz to destroy it.