Judges 6:15

15 He answered, and said: I beseech thee, my lord wherewith shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am the least in my father’s house.

Judges 6:15 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:15

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.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 (ypla) "chilias, mea", Montanus, Drusius; "mea millenaria", Tigurine version; "mille meum", Piscator.
F13 "Pater meus", Pagninus; so some in Drusius.

Judges 6:15 In-Context

13 And Gedeon said to him: I beseech thee, my lord, if the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of Egypt but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of Madian.
14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said: Go, in this thy strength, and thou shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Madian: know that I have sent thee.
15 He answered, and said: I beseech thee, my lord wherewith shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am the least in my father’s house.
16 And the Lord said to him: I will be with thee: and thou shalt cut off Madian as one man.
17 And he said: If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign that it is thou that speakest to me:

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