Judges 7:16
in Judges 7And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers.
KJV
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
⋯
This verse in Judges 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFor the same reason was it that when Gideon was about to overcome the Midianites, he commanded three hundred men to take pitchers, and to hold lighted torches inside the pitchers, and trumpets in their right hands. Our predecessors have preserved the explanation received from the apostles, that the pitchers are our bodies, fashioned of clay, which do not know fear if they burn with the fervor of the grace of the Spirit, and bear witness to the passion of the Lord Jesus with a loud confession of the voice.
This site's exposition
When Gideon heard the dream
on Judges 7:15-16
Gideon "bowed in worship" inside the enemy's lines on a stranger's dream. Each man holds a horn and a jar with a torch inside, which fills both hands. Matthew Henry sets the broken jars beside the treasure in clay jars of 2 Corinthians 4:7, and that link is his.
This site's exposition
divided the three hundred men into three companies
Adam Clarke holds that Gideon rightly planned the attack, since God often wills natural means even in a miracle. Ambrose of Milan reads the jars as bodies of clay that lose their fear when they burn with the Spirit's grace. Three companies let three hundred surround the camp.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
He divided the three hundred men - Though the victory was to be from the Lord, yet he knew that he ought to use prudential means; and those which he employed on this occasion were the best calculated to answer the end. If he had not used these means, it is not likely that God would have delivered the Midianites into his hands. Sometimes, even in working a miracle, God will have natural means used: Go, dip thyself seven times in Jordan. Go, wash in the pool Siloam.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The sleepers started from their rest; not a blow was dealt by the Israelites; but the enemy ran tumultuously, uttering the wild, discordant cries peculiar to the Arab race.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Gideon himself took the command of one company, and sent the other two under their respective captains to different sides of the camp Jdg 7:18, Jdg 7:21.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Shofars and torches to invoke the merit of the giving of the Torah. 10 At Mount Sinai, when the shofar sounded, and fire descended on the mountain. (Shemos,:16–19). According to the plain explanation: this took place at night, as it is written, 11 V. and it was dark.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The recounting of the dream. The story of the dream. 7 מִסְפַר, generally translated as “number”, is interpreted here as “story”. "The retelling of the dream and its interpretation." 8 This is Targum Yonasan’s translation.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֛חַץ | vaiyachatz | and he divided | H2673 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁלֹשׁ־ | shelosh- | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| מֵא֥וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| הָאִ֖ישׁ | haish | the man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה | sheloshah | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| רָאשִׁ֑ים | rashim | companies | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וַיִּתֵּ֨ן | vaiyiten | and he put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| שׁוֹפָר֤וֹת | shofarot | trumpets | H7782 → | 72 times |
| בְּיַד־ | beyad- | in [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| כֻּלָּם֙ | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| וְכַדִּ֣ים | vekhadim | and jars | H3537 → | 18 times |
| רֵקִ֔ים | rekim | empty | H7386 → | 14 times |
| וְלַפִּדִ֖ים | velapidim | and torches | H3940 → | 13 times |
| בְּת֥וֹךְ | betokh | in [the] midst of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הַכַּדִּֽים׃ | hakadim | the jars | H3537 → | 18 times |
וַיַּ֛חַץand he divided
vaiyachatzH2673 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁלֹשׁ־three
shelosh-H7969 →432 times
מֵא֥וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
הָאִ֖ישׁthe man
haishH376 →1663 times
שְׁלֹשָׁ֣הthree
sheloshahH7969 →432 times
רָאשִׁ֑יםcompanies
rashimH7218 →599 times
וַיִּתֵּ֨ןand he put
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times
שׁוֹפָר֤וֹתtrumpets
shofarotH7782 →72 times
בְּיַד־in [the] hand of
beyad-H3027 →1618 times
כֻּלָּם֙all of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
וְכַדִּ֣יםand jars
vekhadimH3537 →18 times
רֵקִ֔יםempty
rekimH7386 →14 times
וְלַפִּדִ֖יםand torches
velapidimH3940 →13 times
בְּת֥וֹךְin [the] midst of
betokhH8432 →418 times
הַכַּדִּֽים׃the jars
hakadimH3537 →18 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
2 Corinthians 4:7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 3:5–6
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
- Ephesians 2:8–9
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- 1 Corinthians 1:28
He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
- Colossians 2:3
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- 2 Corinthians 3:5–6
Where this verse is studied
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 1.143-46; 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.