Shofetim 6:3

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;

Shofetim 6:3 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:3

And so it was, when Israel had sown
Their land, and it was grown up, and near being ripe, or quite; for the Midianites gave them no disturbance in the winter, and during seedtime, when they came out of their lurking holes, and manured their land, and sowed it:

that the Midianites came up;
into the land of Canaan, from the other side Jordan, where their country lay, and which it seems lay lower than the land of Israel:

and the Amalekites, and the children of the east:
the former were implacable enemies of Israel, and on every occasion would join other nations in oppressing them; and the children of the east were Arabians, as Josephus ^F2 expressly affirms:

even they came up against them;
all these three sorts of people in a confederacy.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 6. sect. 1.

Shofetim 6:3 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.