Judges 6:24
in Judges 6So 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
KJV
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah–shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi–ezrites.
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This verse in Judges 6
Commentary
9 notes on this verseGideon 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.
This site's exposition
Gideon perceived that he was
on Judges 6:22-24
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
There - On the top of the rock, as is evident from ver. 26, where that which is here expressed only in general, is more particularly described. Jehovah-shalom - That is, the Lord's peace; the sign or witness of God's speaking peace to me, and to his people: or the place where he spake peace to me, when I expected nothing but destruction.
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him--The transaction in which Gideon is here described as engaged was not entered on till the night after the vision.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
These Midianites were wandering Bedouins from Arabia and the East country round about the Holy Land. They were masters of the art of plundering and knew no hearts of compassion. They generally lived a hard life, themselves, and when they had an opportunity to feast on the spoils of others, they rioted without stint and left a famine behind them. Most fitly does the Scripture compare them to grasshoppers, for both in number and in destructive force they were like those terrible devourers.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
These Midianites were wandering Bedouins from Arabia and the East country round about the Holy Land. They were masters of the art of plundering and knew no hearts of compassion. They generally lived a hard life, themselves, and when they had an opportunity to feast on the spoils of others, they rioted without stint and left a famine behind them. Most fitly does the Scripture compare them to grasshoppers, for both in number and in destructive force they were like those terrible devourers. God had brought them upon Israel to scourge that nation because it had been so foolish and so ungrateful as to set up the gods of the heathen and to forget the one mighty God who was so especially and graciously their Patron and Defender. They were impoverished and ground down to the very last degree by these plunderers who left no food either for men or cattle. The poor Israelites, creeping forth from their dens and caves, attempted to carry on the work of farming and sowed the land, but when the time came for reaping, the marauders came forth once more, took away their harvest and despoiled their pastures again. Then, as usual, Israel cried unto Jehovah and His ears were opened to their groaning. Their afflictions made them weary of their idols and caused them to say, "We will return unto our first husband, for it was better with us, then, than now." God in His great mercy raised up for them a deliverer, Gideon, a mighty man of valor, who distinguished himself in various skirmishes with the foe! His name was already a terror to Midian, for he who dreamed of the barley cake which smote the tent, and it lay along, said to his fellow— "This is none other than Gideon, the son of Joash." Gideon's character has never been sufficiently admired—Scripture names, much less bright than his, have been preferred before him by the general ministry, yet he deserves far better treatment.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Gideon’s naming the altar which he built, in commemoration of the words of peace spoken by the Angel, is very similar to what we read of Abraham Gen 22:14, and of Moses (Exo 17:15, when he named the altar Jehovah-nissi).
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּבֶן֩ | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| שָׁ֨ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| גִּדְע֤וֹן | gidon | Gideon | H1439 → | 39 times |
| מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ | mizbeach | an altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֔ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּקְרָא־ | vaiyikra'- | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| ל֥וֹ | lo | <to> <the> it | ||
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שָׁל֑וֹם | shalom | [is] peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| עַ֚ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֣וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| עוֹדֶ֕נּוּ | odenu | still it | H5750 → | 490 times |
| בְּעָפְרָ֖ת | beaferat | [is] in Ophrah | H6084 → | 8 times |
| אֲבִ֥י | ʾavi | of [the] Abi- | H33 → | 6 times |
| הָעֶזְרִֽי׃ פ | haezri | <the> -ezrite[s] | H33 → | 6 times |
וַיִּבֶן֩and he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
שָׁ֨םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
גִּדְע֤וֹןGideon
gidonH1439 →39 times
מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙an altar
mizbeachH4196 →401 times
לַֽיהוָ֔הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּקְרָא־and he called
vaiyikra'-H7121 →733 times
ל֥וֹ<to> <the> it
lo
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
שָׁל֑וֹם[is] peace
shalomH7965 →236 times
עַ֚דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֣וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
עוֹדֶ֕נּוּstill it
odenuH5750 →490 times
בְּעָפְרָ֖ת[is] in Ophrah
beaferatH6084 →8 times
אֲבִ֥יof [the] Abi-
ʾaviH33 →6 times
הָעֶזְרִֽי׃ פ<the> -ezrite[s]
haezriH33 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 17:15And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.
it leads to
- Genesis 22:14
And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
- Genesis 22:14
Through
Genesis 22:14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
it leads to
- Genesis 22:13
Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of…
- Exodus 17:15
And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.
- Genesis 22:8
Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.
- Genesis 16:13–14
So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”
- Psalms 22:4–5
In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.
- Genesis 22:13
Through
Ezekiel 48:35The perimeter of the city will be 18,000 cubits, and from that day on the name of the city will be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
it leads to
- Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will…
- Revelation 21:3
Through
Jeremiah 33:16In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:6
In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
- Jeremiah 23:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1679: “One War Over and Another Begun” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.