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Judges 7:5

in Judges 7

So Gideon brought the people down to the water, and the LORD said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So he brought down the people unto the water: and Jehovah said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

KJV

So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

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This verse in Judges 7

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Every one that lappeth of the water - as a dog - The original word ילק yalok is precisely the sound which a dog makes when he is drinking.

This site's exposition

There are still too many people

on Judges 7:4-6

Verse 2 has already given the reason for both tests, so the cutting down is the work itself, and the text never says what the drinking showed. Albert Barnes reads the lappers as watchful men with their eyes on the enemy, and John Gill finds it hard to tell whether the act showed weakness or courage. A third reading sees only a way of setting apart a number.

This site's exposition

lap the water with their tongues like a dog

Adam Clarke notes that the Hebrew verb for lapping imitates the sound a dog makes when it drinks. The LORD names the test, and Gideon's part is only to separate the two groups. The water does the sorting.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 68.29 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Dogs are commendable, not abominable. They observe fidelity toward their master, and before his house they bark against enemies. He has not simply said "of dogs" but "of your dog." Nor are their teeth praised, but their tongue is: for it was not indeed to no purpose, not without a great mystery, that Gideon was bidden to lead those alone who should lap the water of the river like dogs. Of such sort not more than three hundred among so great a multitude were found. In this number is the sign of the cross because of the letter T [tau], which signifies three hundred in the Greek numeral characters.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

LETTER 149 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Dogs should not always be taken in an evil sense; otherwise the prophet would not blame "dogs not able to bark and loving to dream." Doubtless they would be praiseworthy dogs if they both knew how to bark and loved to watch. And certainly those three hundred men—a most sacred number according to the letter of the cross10—would not have been chosen to win the victory because they lapped water as dogs do, unless some great mystery were signified. Good dogs watch and bark to protect their house and their master, their flock and their shepherd. Finally, even here in the praises offered by the church, when a selection is made from this prophecy, it is the tongue of dogs that is mentioned, not their teeth.

A commentator

Evagrius Ponticus

PRAKTIKOS 17 · Written before 399.

proposed

Limiting one's intake of water helps a great deal to obtain temperance. This was well understood by the three hundred Israelites accompanying Gideon just when they were preparing to attack Midian.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book 30.74 · Written before 604.

proposed

And they are brought to the river, to drink the waters; and whoever drank the waters with bended knees, were removed from the struggle of war. For by the waters is designated the doctrine of wisdom, but by the unbended knee righteous conduct. They therefore who are reported to have bent their knees, while drinking the water, retired from the strife of battles, having been forbidden; because Christ proceeds to battle against the enemies of the faith, with those who when they drink the streams of doctrine, distort not the uprightness of their actions.

A commentator

Bonaventure

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

This was marked in the case of Gedeon where those who were tested by the water, that is, those who lapped it like dogs, fought the battle and won, while those who bent their knee to drink were turned away. And those who had won …
2 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

So he brought them down to the water,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

bring them down unto the water--When the wandering people in Asia, on a journey or in haste, come to water, they do not stoop down with deliberation on their knees, but only bend forward as much as is necessary to bring their hand in contact with the stream, and throw it up with rapidity, and at the same time such address, that they do not drop a particle.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

27 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיּ֥וֹרֶדand he brought down

    vaiyoredH3381 →381 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמָּ֑יִם סthe water

    hamayimH4325 →581 times

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • גִּדְע֗וֹןGideon

    gidonH1439 →39 times

  • כֹּ֣לevery

    kolH3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[one] who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יָלֹק֩he will lap up

    yalokH3952 →7 times

  • בִּלְשׁוֹנ֨וֹwith tongue his

    bilshonoH3956 →

  • מִן־some of

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַמַּ֜יִםthe water

    hamayimH4325 →581 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֧רjust as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • יָלֹ֣קit laps up

    yalokH3952 →7 times

  • הַכֶּ֗לֶבthe dog

    hakelevH3611 →

  • תַּצִּ֤יגyou will set

    tatzigH3322 →16 times

  • אוֹתוֹ֙<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • לְבָ֔ד<to> alone

    levadH905 →200 times

  • וְכֹ֛לand every

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[one] who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יִכְרַ֥עhe will bow down

    yikhra'H3766 →36 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • בִּרְכָּ֖יוknees his

    birkavH1290 →25 times

  • לִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃to drink

    lishtotH8354 →217 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Gideon Chooses 300 Soldiers — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Gideon Chooses 300 Soldiers — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 7 →
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 68.29; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 149; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19; Evagrius Ponticus, PRAKTIKOS 17; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 30.74; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Judges 7 →