Judges 6:30
in Judges 6Then 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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the Asherah that was by it.
KJV
Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
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This verse in Judges 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
When the men of the city got up
on Judges 6:28-30
Ophrah, a town of Manasseh, wakes ready to prosecute a man for obeying Deuteronomy. The men ask who did it and, having "investigated thoroughly", get a name, so the night work was known by daylight. Their demand, "Bring out your son", with death to follow, is the sentence Deuteronomy 13:6-10 lays on one who draws Israel after other gods, aimed at the man who pulled one down.
This site's exposition
Bring out your son
Adam Clarke traces the town's anger to the sensual rites of Baal worship, in which many had a stake. He holds that such rites drew more worshippers than the LORD because they suited fallen human nature. The charge lists both acts, the altar and the pole.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then the men of the city said unto Joash,....
By the law of God the worshippers of Baal were to die, but these wicked men impiously turn the penalty upon the worshippers of the God of Israel. How prodigiously mad were they upon their idols! Was it not enough to offer the choicest of their bullocks to Baal, but must the bravest youth of their city fall as a sacrifice to that dunghill-deity, when they pretended he was provoked?
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
The men of the city said - They all felt an interest in the continuance of rites in which they had often many sensual gratifications. Baal and Ashtaroth would have more worshippers than the true God, because their rites were more adapted to the fallen nature of man.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֤י | ʾanshei | [the] men of | H582 → | 566 times |
| הָעִיר֙ | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יוֹאָ֔שׁ | yoash | Joash | H3101 → | 47 times |
| הוֹצֵ֥א | hotze' | bring out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בִּנְךָ֖ | binkha | son your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְיָמֹ֑ת | veyamot | so may he die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נָתַץ֙ | natatz | he has torn down | H5422 → | 42 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִזְבַּ֣ח | mizbach | [the] altar of | H4196 → | 401 times |
| הַבַּ֔עַל | habaal | <the> Baal | H1168 → | 82 times |
| וְכִ֥י | vekhi | and for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָרַ֖ת | kharat | he has cut down | H3772 → | 288 times |
| הָאֲשֵׁרָ֥ה | haasherah | the Asherah pole | H842 → | 40 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָלָֽיו׃ | ʾalav | [was] at it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אַנְשֵׁ֤י[the] men of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
הָעִיר֙the city
hairH5892 →1090 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יוֹאָ֔שׁJoash
yoashH3101 →47 times
הוֹצֵ֥אbring out
hotze'H3318 →1067 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בִּנְךָ֖son your
binkhaH1121 →4930 times
וְיָמֹ֑תso may he die
veyamotH4191 →839 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נָתַץ֙he has torn down
natatzH5422 →42 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִזְבַּ֣ח[the] altar of
mizbachH4196 →401 times
הַבַּ֔עַל<the> Baal
habaalH1168 →82 times
וְכִ֥יand for
vekhiH3588 →4482 times
כָרַ֖תhe has cut down
kharatH3772 →288 times
הָאֲשֵׁרָ֥הthe Asherah pole
haasherahH842 →40 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָלָֽיו׃[was] at it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 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
Philippians 3:6as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.
it leads to
- Galatians 1:13–14
For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 8:3
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
- Acts 26:9–10
So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- Galatians 1:13–14
Through
John 16:2They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
it leads to
- Acts 22:3–4
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 9:22
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
- Acts 26:9–11
So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- Romans 10:2–3
For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.
- Matthew 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Acts 22:3–4
Where this verse is studied
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.