Judgeschapter 6
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Key verse
So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him.
It stands in scene D of the chapter, verses 33 to 40.
The chapter
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. 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.
Context
History · Samuel · Judges overview
Where the chapter sits
Judges 6 falls in The twelve judges (chapters 3–16). Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson (and Abimelech as anti-judge). Seven oppression-deliverance cycles.
Gideon's call. The angel under the oak; ‘mighty man of valour’ said to the man threshing in a winepress in secret.
Before it: Incomplete conquest; programmatic cycle, chapters 1–2. After it: Appendix: diagnosis of Israel, chapters 17–21.
The whole shape of Judges→The world behind this chapter
Judges 6The history
Midian's raids worked because of the camel. Domesticated camels come into wide use in this region right around this period, and a camel column could cross the eastern desert, strike the settled land at harvest, and be gone before any local militia could gather. The text says they came like locusts, and that is a description of logistics, not just of numbers.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
Threshing is the reason Gideon is where he is. Grain was normally beaten or trampled on a flat, exposed floor on a hilltop, then tossed into the wind so the breeze carried off the chaff. It has to be high and open to work. A winepress is the opposite: a pit cut down into rock, sunken and hidden, meant for treading grapes. A man threshing wheat in a winepress is a man with no wind and no room, doing it that way only because he is hiding, which is the whole picture of Israel in those years.
The altar Gideon pulls down at night belonged to his own father, and beside it stood an Asherah, a wooden pole or living tree representing the goddess. That combination, a Baal altar with an Asherah beside it, is exactly what excavated Canaanite worship sites look like. This was not a foreign shrine imposed by the enemy; it was the family's.
The fleece is a shepherd's test, using an unshorn sheepskin, which naturally holds moisture longer than bare ground, which is why the second night's request, dry fleece on wet ground, is the harder one. Gideon knew what he was asking.
What it meant to them
Hearers who lived on what they grew understood the terror of the seventh consecutive stolen harvest. A family could survive one; by the seventh there were no seed grain, no oxen, and no reserves.
And the deliverer is introduced hiding in a pit, called mighty man of valor by an angel, arguing that his clan is the weakest and he the least in his father's house. The first hearers were meant to notice that God's opening move was not to raise an army but to make one frightened farmer tear down his father's altar.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
A. Midian strips the land; a prophet before a deliverer
1. (vv. 1-3)
a.into the hand of Midian: The fifth of the seven times this book says Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, after 2:11, 3:7, 3:12 and 4:1, with 10:6 and 13:1 still to come. Midian descends from Abraham by Keturah at Genesis 25:2, and Moses kept the flocks of a priest of Midian at Exodus 3:1, so the raiders are distant kin. Seven years is the shortest servitude the book has recorded, against eight under Cushan at 3:8, eighteen under Eglon at 3:14 and twenty under Jabin at 4:3.
Judges 6:1, 1 voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Judges 6:1
“Midian - See Gen 25:2 note. They were remarkable not only for the vast number of their cattle Jdg 6:5; Num 31:32-39, but also for their great wealth in gold and other metal ornaments, showing their connection with a gold country. (Compare Num 31:22, Num 31:50-54, with Jdg 8:24:26.) At this time they were allies of the Amalekites and of the Arabian tribes called collectively “the children of the East” Jdg 6:3. They seem to have extended their settlements to the east of Jordan, and to have belonged to the larger section of Arabs called Ishmaelites Jdg 8:24.”
2. (vv. 4-6)
a.The raiding is timed to the harvest and aimed at the food supply, so the increase is destroyed and no sheep, ox or ass is left, which takes the seed and the plough animals together. Camels without number carries the picture, since mounted raiders cover ground a farmer on foot can never answer, and the same grasshopper image returns at 7:12. Verse 6 is the fourth of the six times Israel cries unto the Lord in this book, after 3:9, 3:15 and 4:3, and it is the one cry that brings a prophet before it brings a deliverer.
Judges 6:4, 1 voice
Judges 6:4
“Encamped against them - Wandering hordes of Midianites, Amalekites, and Ishmaelites came, in the times of harvest and autumn, and carried away their crops, their fruit, and their cattle. And they appear to have come early, encamped in the plains, and watched the crops till they were ready to be carried off. This is frequently the case even to the present day. Till thou come unto Gaza - That is, the whole breadth of the land, from Jordan to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Thus the whole land was ravaged, and the inhabitants deprived of the necessaries of life.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Judges 6:5, 1 voice
Judges 6:5
“They came up with their cattle and their tents - All this proves that they were different tribes of wanderers who had no fixed residence; but, like their descendants the Bedouins or wandering Arabs, removed from place to place to get prey for themselves and forage for their cattle.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3. (vv. 7-10)
a.The prophet is unnamed, says nothing of a rescue, and is never mentioned again. His speech runs the same course as the angel's at 2:1-3: brought up out of Egypt, delivered from every oppressor, given the land, and then a charge that the voice was not obeyed. The charge is exact, fear not the gods of the Amorites, and verse 25 finds an altar of Baal standing in the house of the man God is about to call.
Judges 6:8, 1 voice
Judges 6:8
“The Lord sent a prophet - The Jews say that this was Phinehas; but it is more likely that it was some prophet or teacher raised up by the Lord to warn and instruct them. Such were his witnesses, and they were raised up from time to time to declare the counsel of God to his rebellious people.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Judges 6:10, 1 voice
Judges 6:10
“A similar use of the name Amorite, instead of the more usual name Canaanite, occurs in Jos 24:15, Jos 24:18. Perhaps a special reason may be found for the use of Amorite, if the prophet was addressing those who dwelt in the mountains, where the Amorites chiefly dwelt. The idolatries of the Amorites seem, too, to have been preeminently abominable (see 2Ki 21:11; 1Ki 21:26).”
B. Thou mighty man of valor: in a winepress
1. (vv. 11-12)
a.A threshing floor wants open ground and wind to carry the chaff away, and a winepress is a pit cut down into rock, so the detail says he is beating out grain in the wrong place to keep it out of sight. The angel of the Lord last spoke in this book at 2:1, coming up from Gilgal to rebuke the whole nation, and here he sits down beside one man. The greeting names him a mighty man of valour while he is hiding food from raiders, and it is spoken before he has done anything at all.
Judges 6:11, 2 voices
Judges 6:11
“An oak - “The oak,” indicating it as a well-known tree, still standing in the writer’s days. There was another Ophrah in Benjamin Jos 18:23. This Ophrah was in Manasseh, and was the village of Joash, the head, apparently, of the family of Abiezer, which was one of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh Num 26:30.”
Judges 6:11
“In Ophrah - In Manasseh: there was another Ophrah in Benjamin, Josh. xviii, 23. The Abi-ezrite - Of the posterity of Abiezer. Threshed - Not with oxen, as the manner was, Deut. xxv, 4, but with a staff to prevent discovery.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Judges 6:12, 1 voice
Judges 6:12
“The Lord is with thee - “The Word of the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” - Targum. It appears that Gideon had proved himself, on former occasions, to be a man of courage and personal prowess; and this would naturally excite the confidence of his countrymen. God chooses for his work those instruments which, in the course of his operations in nature and providence, he has qualified for his purpose. The instruments thus chosen are generally unlikely, but they will be ever found the best qualified for the Divine employment.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2. (vv. 13-14)
a.Gideon answers with the same history the prophet had just recited at verses 8 and 9, and draws the opposite conclusion out of it, that the Lord hath forsaken us. Deuteronomy 31:17 puts those very words in Israel's mouth as part of the covenant warning, so the complaint quotes the sentence he is living under. Verse 14 takes up none of the question and sends him regardless, Go in this thy might, and the last clause carries the whole answer, have not I sent thee.
Judges 6:13, 2 voices
Judges 6:13
“The extreme bitterness of the national sufferings under the Midianite occupation breaks out in Gideon’s language. The Angel’s words, suitable to times of prosperity, seemed to be a mockery, when it was evident the Lord was not with them. (Compare Deu 31:17.)”
Judges 6:13
“Gideon, in replying, addresses him at first in a style equivalent (in Hebrew) to "sir," but afterwards gives to him the name usually applied to God. an oak--Hebrew, "the oak"--as famous in after-times.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Judges 6:14, 1 voice
Judges 6:14
“Go in this thy might - What does the angel mean? He had just stated that Jehovah was with him; and he now says, Go in This thy might, i.e., in the might of Jehovah, who is with thee.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3. (vv. 15-16)
a.The objection takes the shape Moses used at Exodus 3:11, and the reply is the reply Moses got, Surely I will be with thee against Certainly I will be with thee. Saul says nearly the same of himself at 1 Samuel 9:21, my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin, and the smallest house being chosen runs on from there to David. Thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man is read two ways by the commentators, that Israel strikes as a single body or that Midian falls as a single man, and the Hebrew carries both.
Judges 6:15, 1 voice
Judges 6:15
“My family - Hebrew. my thousand: for the tribes were distributed into several thousands, whereof each thousand had his peculiar governor. Is poor - That is, weak and contemptible.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Judges 6:16, 1 voice
Judges 6:16
“Thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man - Thou shalt as surely conquer all their host as if thou hadst but one man to contend with; or, Thou shalt destroy them to a man.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4. (vv. 17-19)
a.He asks for a sign here, well before the fleece of verses 36 to 40, and this one is given without a word said about the asking. An ephah of flour is a large measure and a kid is a costly animal in a year when verse 4 says no sustenance was left, so the present costs him real food. Genesis 18:6 has Abraham setting cakes and a dressed calf before three men at his tent door, and the word rendered present here is the word used of the meat offering carried to an altar.
Judges 6:17, 3 voices
Judges 6:17
“A sign - If the Angel ate of Gideon’s present it would be a conclusive proof of the reality of the vision. (Compare Joh 21:9-13; Luk 24:37-43; Act 10:41.) It would also be a token of God’s goodwill to Gideon. Compare Gen 18:3.”
Judges 6:17
“He resembles Moses also in the desire for a sign; and in both cases it was the rarity of revelations in such periods of general corruption that made them so desirous of having the fullest conviction of being addressed by a heavenly messenger. The request was reasonable, and it was graciously granted [Jud 6:18].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Judges 6:17
“That thou - That it is thou, an angel or messenger sent from God, that appears to me, and discourseth with me. Or, a sign of that which thou talkest with me; that is, that thou wilt by me smite the Midianites.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Judges 6:18, 1 voice
Judges 6:18
“And bring forth my present - My minchah; generally an offering of bread, wine, oil, flour, and such like. It seems from this that Gideon supposed the person to whom he spoke to be a Divine person. Nevertheless, what he prepared and brought out appears to be intended simply as an entertainment to refresh a respectable stranger.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Judges 6:19, 2 voices
Judges 6:19
“Unleavened cakes - As being much more quickly baked (compare Gen 19:3) (and as connected with the meat offering). An ephah, containing 3 measures, was the quantity of flour commonly used at one baking Gen 18:6; Exo 16:16. Presented it - A word especially, though not exclusively, proper for offerings to God. See Amo 5:25, where the same word is rendered offered.”
Judges 6:19
“The flesh seems to have been roasted, which is done by cutting it into kobab, that is, into small pieces, fixed on a skewer, and put before the fire. The broth was for immediate use; the other, brought in a hand-basket was intended to be a future supply to the traveller.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
5. (vv. 20-21)
a.The instruction turns a meal into an offering, since flesh laid on bare rock with the broth poured out over it has stopped being supper. Fire out of the rock is the mark of an accepted sacrifice at Leviticus 9:24 and again at 1 Kings 18:38, and the angel who comes to Manoah at Judges 13:20 goes up in the flame of the altar in the same manner. He touches the food with the end of a staff and then departs, so the food is consumed rather than eaten in front of Gideon.
Judges 6:20, 1 voice
Judges 6:20
“Pour out the broth - Libations were a very ancient form of offering (compare Gen 35:14). The drink offerings of wine under the Levitical law were poured upon the altar Exo 30:9. The pouring of the broth upon the rock was evidently of the nature of a libation. It might also, like the water poured by Elijah upon his sacrifice, make the miracle of the fire that consumed the sacrifice more apparent. (Compare 1Ki 18:33.)”
Judges 6:21, 1 voice
Judges 6:21
“The angel - put forth the end of the staff - He appeared like a traveler with a staff in his hand; this he put forth, and having touched the flesh, fire rose out of the rock and consumed it. Here was the most evident proof of supernatural agency. Then the angel - departed out of his sight - Though the angel vanished out of his sight, yet God continued to converse with him either by secret inspiration in his own heart, or by an audible voice.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
6. (vv. 22-24)
a.His alarm rests on Exodus 33:20, that no man shall see God and live, and Manoah reaches for the same words at Judges 13:22. The answer, Peace be unto thee, fear not, is what the altar takes its name from, Jehovah shalom, which readers render either the Lord is peace or the Lord send peace. The line that it stands in Ophrah unto this day is the writer telling his own readers where they could go and look at it.
Judges 6:22, 1 voice
Judges 6:22
“Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen - This is an elliptical sentence, a natural expression of the distressed state of Gideon’s mind: as if he had said, Have mercy on me, O Lord God! else I shall die; because I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face. We have frequently seen that it was a prevalent sentiment, as well before as under the law, that if any man saw God, or his representative angel he must surely die. On this account Gideon is alarmed, and prays for his life.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Judges 6:24, 2 voices
Judges 6:24
“Gideon built an altar - and called it Jehovah-shalom - The words יהוה שלום Yehovah shalom signify The Lord is my peace, or The peace of Jehovah; and this name he gave the altar, in reference to what God had said, Jdg 6:23, Peace be unto thee, שלום לך shalom lecha, “Peace to thee;” which implied, not only a wish, but a prediction of the prosperous issue of the enterprise in which he was about to engage. It is likely that this is the altar which is mentioned in Jdg 6:26, and is spoken of here merely by anticipation.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Judges 6:24
“This is, (1.) The title of the Lord that spoke to him. The same that is the Lord our righteousness is our peace ( Eph. ii. 14 ), our reconciler and so our Saviour.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
C. The altar of Baal thrown down by night
1. (vv. 25-27)
a.The altar of Baal and the grove beside it belong to his own father and stand at Ophrah, so what verse 10 charged against the nation is standing in the yard of the man being called. Deuteronomy 7:5 and 12:3 had commanded this exact act, break down their altars and cut down their groves, which makes the first order Gideon receives an old one nobody had carried out. The bullock is seven years old and Midian has held Israel seven years, and the text states plainly that he feared his father's household and the men of the city and so did the work at night.
Judges 6:25, 3 voices
Judges 6:25
“Then the man, instructed and fore-knowing what was to be, observes the heavenly mysteries, and therefore, according to the warning, slew the bullock destined by his father to idols, and himself offered to God another bullock seven years old. By doing which he most plainly showed that after the coming of the Lord all Gentile sacrifices should be done away, and that only the sacrifice of the Lord's passion should be offered for the redemption of the people.”
Ambrose of Milan· written before 397· On the Holy Spirit, Book 1patristic
Judges 6:25
“Even - Rather, as in the margin, and. Two bullocks are spoken of. The labor of both would be required for pulling down and removing the altar of Baal, and for bringing the materials for building the altar of Yahweh. The grove by it - Rather, “the idol upon it,” the Asherah, the wooden image of Astarte Jdg 3:7.”
Judges 6:25
“The former, we may suppose, he was to offer for himself, the latter for the sins of the people whom he was to deliver. It was requisite he should thus make peace with God, before he made war on Midian. Till sin be pardoned through the great sacrifice, no good is to be expected.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Judges 6:26, 1 voice
Judges 6:26
“Ordered place - That is, in a plain and smooth part of the rock, where an altar may be conveniently built. And offer - Gideon was no priest, nor was this the appointed place of sacrifice; but God can dispense with his own institutions, though we may not; and his call gave Gideon sufficient authority.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Judges 6:27, 1 voice
Judges 6:27
“The mention of the “men of the city” by the side of Gideon’s “father’s household” suggests the probability of their being a remnant of the Canaanite population, and the special patrons of Baal-worship.”
2. (vv. 28-30)
a.Ophrah is an Israelite town in Manasseh, and it wakes up ready to prosecute a man for obeying Deuteronomy. They ask who did this thing, they enquire, and a name comes back the same morning, so the night work was known by daylight. Bring out thy son, that he may die is the sentence Deuteronomy 13:6-10 lays on a man who draws Israel after other gods, turned around here and aimed at the man who pulled the other god down.
Judges 6:28, 1 voice
Judges 6:28
“The second bullock was offered - It appears that the second bullock was offered because it was just seven years old, Jdg 6:25, being calved about the time that the Midianitish oppression began; and it was now to be slain to indicate that their slavery should end with its life. The young bullock, Jdg 6:25, is supposed to have been offered for a peace-offering; the bullock of seven years old, for a burnt-offering.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3. (vv. 31-32)
a.Joash answers with a point of law rather than a defence of his son, that a god who can be robbed of his own altar is able to bring his own suit. Elijah presses the same argument at 1 Kings 18:27, and Isaiah 41:23 puts it as a challenge laid on the idols themselves. The new name Jerubbaal means let Baal contend, and it outlasts him: 2 Samuel 11:21 calls him Jerubbesheth, swapping the Baal element for the word for shame, the same swap that turns Ishbaal into Ishbosheth.
Judges 6:31, 1 voice
Judges 6:31
“From the boldness of Joash in defending his son, it is likely that the majority of the Abi-ezrites sided with him against “the men of the city,” and already felt drawn toward Gideon as their national and religious leader Jdg 6:34. Joash appears as the chief magistrate of Ophrah. Will ye plead ...? will ye save? - The emphasis is upon ye, as much as to say, What business is it of yours?”
Judges 6:32, 2 voices
Judges 6:32
“He called him Jerubbaal - That is, Let Baal contend; changed, 2Sa 11:21, into Jerubbesheth, he shall contend against confusion or shame; thus changing baal, lord, into bosheth, confusion or ignominy. Some think that Jerubbaal was the same with Jerombalus, who, according to Sanchoniatho and Porphyry, was a priest of Jevo. But the history of Sanchoniatho is probably a forgery of Porphyry himself, and worthy of no credit.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Judges 6:32
“Jerub-baal - That is, Let Baal plead. It is a probable conjecture, that that Jerombalus, whom Sanchoniathon, (one of the most ancient of all the Heathen writers) speaks of as a priest of Jao, (a corruption of Jehovah) and to whom he was indebted for a great deal of knowledge, was this Jerub-baal.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
D. The fleece, wet and then dry
1. (vv. 33-35)
a.in the Valley of Jezreel: Jezreel is the grain valley of the north, so the raiders pitch on the harvest itself. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon is the second of the seven times this book says it, after Othniel at 3:10 and ahead of Jephthah at 11:29 and Samson four times over at 13:25, 14:6, 14:19 and 15:14; the Hebrew verb is the word for putting on a garment, used again of Amasai at 1 Chronicles 12:18 and of Zechariah at 2 Chronicles 24:20. The first men to answer the trumpet are his own clan, the household whose altar he had torn down, and Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali are the northern tribes Deborah had summoned at 4:10 and 5:18.
Judges 6:33, 1 voice
Judges 6:33
“A fresh invasion, and the last, of Midianites Amalekites, and Arabs (see Jdg 6:3). But the Israelites, instead of hiding in dens and caves, and tamely leaving all their substance as pIunder to the invaders, now rally around their leader.”
Judges 6:34, 2 voices
Judges 6:34
“The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon - See the margin. The word contains a striking thought. It is different from that used in the case of Othniel Jdg 3:10, Jephthah Jdg 11:29, and Samson Jdg 13:25; Jdg 14:6, Jdg 14:19.”
Judges 6:34
“The spirit came - Inspiring him with extraordinary wisdom, and courage, and zeal to vindicate God's honour, and his country's liberty. The Hebrew is, The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon; clothed him as a robe, to put honour upon him; clothed him as a coat of mail to put a defense upon him. Those are well clad that are thus clothed.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Judges 6:35, 1 voice
Judges 6:35
“His own tribe, Manasseh, and the three northern tribes of Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali hastened to join him. Issachar was probably unable to do so, because the Midianites were encamped in the heart of their country. Asher no longer “abode in his breaches,” as in the time of Jabin Jdg 6:17, perhaps ashamed of their former backwardness, and stung by the rebuke of Deborah; perhaps, too, from feeling the Midianite yoke much more galling than that of Jabin.”
2. (vv. 36-38)
a.The fleece is asked after fire had come out of the rock and after the Spirit had already come upon him, and he repeats the clause as thou hast said, so what he wants confirmed is a promise he is holding. A fleece left out overnight in that country draws dew on its own, which makes the first sign the easier of the two and explains why he asks again. The account records what he asked and what God did and adds no approval and no rebuke; Matthew Henry reads it as weak faith borne with, and the text leaves the question where it found it.
Judges 6:36, 1 voice
Judges 6:36
“Some one perhaps will enquire whether he does not seem to have been wanting in faith, seeing that after being instructed by many signs he asked still more. But how can he seem to have asked as if doubting or wanting in faith, who was speaking in mysteries? He was not then doubtful, but careful that we should not doubt. For how could he be doubtful whose prayer was effectual?”
Ambrose of Milan· written before 397· On the Holy Spirit, Book 1patristic
Judges 6:37, 1 voice
Judges 6:37
“The threshing floors were and still are under the open air, and usually circular. The second sign Jdg 6:40, would be more convincing than the former, because it is the nature of fleeces to attract and retain moisture.”
3. (vv. 39-40)
a.Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once stands close to Abraham pressing his request at Genesis 18:30-32, and Gideon knows he is asking a second time. The second test is the harder one, dry wool on wet ground, which a night's weather does not produce by itself. God does it without a word said, and at 7:10-11 he offers Gideon a further sign that was never asked for, sending him down in the dark to hear what the enemy is saying.
Judges 6:40, 1 voice
Judges 6:40
“And God did so that night,.... The night following, the night being the season in which the dew falls: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground; and this might signify, that not Gideon only, as before, should partake of the divine favour, but all the Israelites, who would share in the salvation wrought by him.”
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Judges 6. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on 9 works. Open for the list.
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes; Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit, Book 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry.
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