Judges 6:21-31

21 the angel of the Lord held forth the end of the staff, which he held in the hand (which he held in his hand), and he touched the fleshes, and the therf loaves; and fire ascended from the stone, and wasted the fleshes, and [the] therf loaves. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his eyes.
22 And Gideon saw that he was an angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas to me, for I saw the angel of the Lord face to face. (And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas for me, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.)
23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be with thee; dread thou not (fear not ), thou shalt not die.
24 Then Gideon builded there an altar to the Lord, and he called it the Peace of the Lord, (and it is there) unto this present day. And when he was yet in Ophrah, which is of the family of Abiezrites, (Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and he called it Jehovahshalom, and it is there unto this present day, in Ophrah, which is of the family of the Abiezrites.)
25 the Lord said to him in that night, Take thou thy father's bull, and another bull of seven years, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, that is thy father's, and cut thou down the wood, which is about the altar; (And then the Lord said to him that night, Take thou thy father's bull, and another bull that is seven years old, and destroy thou the altar of Baal, that is thy father's, and cut thou down the pole of idolatry, which is beside the altar;)
26 and thou shalt build an altar to thy Lord God in the highness of this stone, on which thou puttedest (the) sacrifice before; and thou shalt take the second bull, and thou shalt offer (a) burnt sacrifice on the heap of trees, which thou cuttedest down of the wood. (and thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God on top of this stone, on which before thou hast put the sacrifice; and thou shalt take the second bull, and thou shalt offer a burnt sacrifice on the heap of wood from the pole of idolatry which thou hast cut down.)
27 Therefore Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord commanded to him. And Gideon dreaded the house of his father (And Gideon feared his father's family), and the men of that city, and (so) he would not do (it) by day, but he fulfilled all things by night.
28 And when men of that city had risen early, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the wood cut down, and the tother bull put on the altar, that was builded. (And when the men of that city had risen in the morning, they saw that the altar of Baal had been destroyed, and the pole of idolatry had been cut down, and the other bull put on the altar that Gideon had built there.)
29 And they said together, Who hath done this? And when they inquired (of) the doer of the deed, it was said, Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these things.
30 And they said to Joash, Bring forth thy son hither, that he die, for he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down the wood about it. (And they said to Joash, Bring thy son here, so that we can kill him, for he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down the pole of idolatry that was beside it.)
31 To whom Joash answered, Whether ye be the vengers of Baal, that ye fight for him? he that is (the) adversary of him, die he, before the morrow light come; if he is God, venge he himself of him that hath cast down his altar (yea, if he is a god, avenge he himself upon him who hath thrown down his altar).

Judges 6:21-31 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.