Judgeschapter 6
40 verses · BSBJudges book hub →
A.Midian strips the land; a prophet before a deliverervv. 1-10
1 Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them, 4 encamping against them as far as Gaza and destroying the produce of the land. They left Israel with no sustenance, neither sheep nor oxen nor donkeys. 5 For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it. 6 Israel was greatly impoverished by Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD. 7 Now when the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 8 He sent them a prophet, who told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 9 I delivered you out of the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”
B.Thou mighty man of valor — in a winepressvv. 11-24
11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 “Surely I will be with you,” the LORD replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.” 17 Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me. 18 Please do not depart from this place until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set it before You.” And the LORD said, “I will stay until you return.” 19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak. 20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!” 23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
C.The altar of Baal thrown down by nightvv. 25-32
25 On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city, he did it by night rather than in the daytime. 28 When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar. 29 “Who did this?” they said to one another. And after they had investigated thoroughly, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has torn down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Are you contending for Baal? Are you trying to save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal is a god, let him contend for himself with the one who has torn down his altar.” 32 So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baal’s altar.
D.The fleece, wet and then dryvv. 33-40
33 Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him. 35 Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him. 36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said, 37 then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.” 40 And that night God did so. Only the fleece was dry, and dew covered the ground.
Chapter summary
Midian's raiding drives Israel into dens and caves; the invaders come up like locusts for multitude, with camels without number, and destroy the increase of the earth.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
Chapter summary
Midian's raiding drives Israel into dens and caves; the invaders come up like locusts for multitude, with camels without number, and destroy the increase of the earth.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
Midian's raiding drives Israel into dens and caves; the invaders come up like locusts for multitude, with camels without number, and destroy the increase of the earth. The angel of Jehovah finds Gideon beating out wheat in a winepress to hide it and greets him as what he is not yet: 'Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.' Gideon protests that his family is the poorest in Manasseh and he the least in his father's house. Fire rises out of the rock to consume his offering, and he builds the altar Jehovah-shalom. That night he pulls down his father's altar of Baal and earns the name Jerubbaal. Then the Spirit clothes him, and he still asks the fleece, twice.
Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.
Context
History · Samuel — Judges overview
- A. 1–10 Midian strips the land; a prophet before a deliverer
- B. 11–24 Thou mighty man of valor — in a winepress
- C. 25–32 The altar of Baal thrown down by night
- D. 33–40 The fleece, wet and then dry
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
Judges 34 verses
- Judges 3:7So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
- Judges 3:9But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.
- Judges 3:13After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.
- Judges 3:27On arriving in Seirah, he blew the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hills, and he became their leader.
- Read Judges 3 →
Genesis 184 verses
- Genesis 18:3“My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.
- Genesis 18:5And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”
- Genesis 18:6So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
- Genesis 18:32Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”
- Read Genesis 18 →
Judges 133 verses
- Judges 13:3The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son.
- Judges 13:15“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.”
- Judges 13:19Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing.
- Read Judges 13 →
Judges 23 verses
- Judges 2:11And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
- Judges 2:18Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.
- Judges 2:19But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
- Read Judges 2 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
Hebrews 113 verses
- Hebrews 11:32And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
- Hebrews 11:34quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
- Hebrews 11:38The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
- Read Hebrews 11 →
Judges 63 verses
- Judges 6:3Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
- Judges 6:14The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?”
- Judges 6:33Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
- Read Judges 6 →
Judges 72 verses
- Judges 7:1Early in the morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
- Judges 7:12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Read Judges 7 →
Judges 82 verses
- Judges 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.
- Judges 8:32Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- Read Judges 8 →
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.