The hand of the Midianites prevailed over Israel; and because of Midian, the Israelites provided themselves with refuges in the caves and strongholds of the mountains.aprovided themselves … mountains Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ותעז
483
ידמדין
118
עלישראל
641
מפני
180
מדין
104
עשו
376
להם
75
בני
62
ישראל
541
אתהמנהרות
1107
אשר
501
בהרים
257
ואתהמערות
1128
ואתהמצדות
952
Judges 6:3
Gematria: 1786
והיהאםזרעישראלועלהמדיןועמלקובניקדםועלועליו
After the Israelites had done their sowing, Midian, Amalek, and the Kedemites would come up and raid them;
they would attack them, destroybdestroy By grazing their livestock; see next verse. the produce of the land all the way to Gaza, and leave no means of sustenance in Israel, not a sheep or an ox or a donkey.
For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, swarming as thick as locusts; they and their camels were innumerable. Thus they would invade the land and ravage it.
Word-by-Word Analysis
כי
30
הם
45
ומקניהם
251
יעלו
116
ואהליהם
97
יבאו
19
ובאו
15
כדיארבה
242
לרב
232
ולהם
81
ולגמליהם
164
אין
61
מספר
380
ויבאו
25
בארץ
293
לשחתה
743
Judges 6:6
Gematria: 1859
וידלישראלמאדמפנימדיןויזעקובניישראלאליהוהפ
Israel was reduced to utter misery by the Midianites, and the Israelites cried out to GOD.
Word-by-Word Analysis
וידל
50
ישראל
541
מאד
45
מפני
180
מדין
104
ויזעקו
199
בניישראל
603
אליהוהפ
137
Judges 6:7
Gematria: 1519
ויהיכיזעקובניישראלאליהוהעלאדותמדין
When the Israelites cried to GOD on account of Midian,
GOD sent a certain prophet to the Israelites. He said to them, “Thus said the ETERNAL, the God of Israel: I brought you up out of Egypt and freed you from the house of bondage.
An angelcAn angel Lit. “A messenger.” of GOD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was then beating out wheat inside a winepress in order to keep it safe from the Midianites.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויבא
19
מלאך
91
יהוה
26
וישב
318
תחת
808
האלה
41
אשר
501
בעפרה
357
אשר
501
ליואש
347
אבי
13
העזרי
292
וגדעון
139
בנו
58
חבט
19
חטים
67
בגת
405
להניס
155
מפני
180
מדין
104
Judges 6:12
Gematria: 1105
ויראאליומלאךיהוהויאמראליויהוהעמךגבורהחיל
The angel of GOD appeared to him and said to him,dappeared to him and said to him Or “engaged him [in conversation], saying.” “GOD is with you, valiant warrior!”
Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if GOD is with us, why has all this befallen us? Where are all those wondrous deeds about which our ancestors told us, saying, ‘Truly GOD brought us up from Egypt’? Now GOD has abandoned us and delivered us into the hands of Midian!”
GOD eGOD I.e., the angel, in GOD’s name. Cf. Gersonides. turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and deliver Israel from the Midianites. IfI Conventionally, a messenger delivers the key message as if the sender were speaking. herewith make you My messenger.”
He said to him, “Please, my Sovereign, how can I deliver Israel? Why, my clan is the humblest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s household.”
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויאמר
257
אליו
47
בי
12
אדני
65
במה
47
אושיע
387
אתישראל
942
הנה
60
אלפי
121
הדל
39
במנשה
397
ואנכי
87
הצעיר
375
בבית
414
אבי
13
Judges 6:16
Gematria: 1801
ויאמראליויהוהכיאהיהעמךוהכיתאתמדיןכאישאחד
GOD gGOD See the first note at v. 14. replied, “I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian all at once.”
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויאמר
257
אליו
47
יהוה
26
כי
30
אהיה
21
עמך
130
והכית
441
אתמדין
505
כאיש
331
אחד
13
Judges 6:17
Gematria: 3462
ויאמראליואםנאמצאתיחןבעיניךועשיתליאותשאתהמדברעמי
And he said to him,hto him I.e., to the angel, while speaking in direct response to GOD as the message’s sender, as in v. 15. “If I have gained Your favor, give me a sign that it is You who are speaking to me.ispeaking to me I.e., via the angel. Cf. Kimhi.
So Gideon went in and prepared a kid, and [baked] unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and he brought them out to him under the terebinth. As he presented them,
The angel of GOD held out the staff that he carried, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread with its tip. A fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the angel of GOD vanished from his sight.
So Gideon built there an altar to GOD and called it Adonai-shalom.kAdonai-shalom I.e., “GOD, ‘All-is-well.’” To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
That night GOD said to him: “Take the young bulllyoung bull Meaning of Heb. uncertain. belonging to your father and another bull seven years old; pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred postmsacred post Used in worship of the goddess Asherah. that is beside it.
Then build an altar to the ETERNAL your God, on the level groundnlevel ground Meaning of Heb. uncertain. on top of this stronghold. Take the other bull and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred post that you have cut down.”
So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as GOD had told him; but as he was afraid to do it by day, on account of his father’s household and the townspeople, he did it by night.
Early the next morning, the townspeople found that the altar of Baal had been torn down and the sacred post beside it had been cut down, and that the second bull had been offered on the newly built altar.
But Joash said to all who had risen against him, “Do you have to contend for Baal? Do you have to vindicate him? Whoever fights his battles shall be dead by morning! If he is a god, let him fight his own battles, since it is his altar that has been torn down!”
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויאמר
257
יואש
317
לכל
80
אשרעמדו
621
עליו
116
האתם
446
תריבון
668
לבעל
132
אםאתם
482
תושיעון
842
אותו
413
אשר
501
יריב
222
לו
36
יומת
456
עדהבקר
381
אםאלהים
127
הוא
12
ירב
212
לו
36
כי
30
נתץ
540
אתמזבחו
464
Judges 6:32
Gematria: 2432
ויקראלוביוםההואירבעללאמרירבבוהבעלכינתץאתמזבחוס
That day they named himohim I.e., Gideon. Jerubbaal, meaning “Let Baal contend with him, since he tore down his altar.”
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויקראלו
353
ביוםההוא
75
ירבעל
312
לאמר
271
ירב
212
בו
8
הבעל
107
כי
30
נתץ
540
אתמזבחוס
524
Judges 6:33
Gematria: 1747
וכלמדיןועמלקובניקדםנאספויחדוויעברוויחנובעמקיזרעאל
All Midian, Amalek, and the Kedemites joined forces; they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
Word-by-Word Analysis
וכלמדין
160
ועמלק
246
ובניקדם
212
נאספו
197
יחדו
28
ויעברו
294
ויחנו
80
בעמק
212
יזרעאל
318
Judges 6:34
Gematria: 2999
ורוחיהוהלבשהאתגדעוןויתקעבשופרויזעקאביעזראחריו
The spirit of GOD enveloped Gideon; he sounded the horn, and the Abiezrites rallied behind him.
And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they too rallied behind him. He then sent messengers through Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet the Manassites.pManassites Heb. “them.”
Word-by-Word Analysis
ומלאכים
147
שלח
338
בכלמנשה
447
ויזעק
193
גםהוא
55
אחריו
225
ומלאכים
147
שלח
338
באשר
503
ובזבלון
103
ובנפתלי
578
ויעלו
122
לקראתם
771
Judges 6:36
Gematria: 3404
ויאמרגדעוןאלהאלהיםאםישךמושיעבידיאתישראלכאשרדברת
And Gideon said to God, “If You really intend to deliver Israel through me as You have said—
here I place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If dew falls only on the fleece and all the ground remains dry, I shall know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have said.”
Word-by-Word Analysis
הנה
60
אנכי
81
מציג
143
אתגזת
811
הצמר
335
בגרן
255
אם
41
טל
39
יהיה
30
עלהגזה
120
לבדה
41
ועלכלהארץ
452
חרב
210
וידעתי
500
כיתושיע
816
בידי
26
אתישראל
942
כאשר
521
דברת
606
Judges 6:38
Gematria: 2446
ויהיכןוישכםממחרתויזראתהגזהוימץטלמןהגזהמלואהספלמים
And that is what happened. Early the next day, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew from the fleece, a bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me if I speak just once more. Let me make just one more test with the fleece: let the fleece alone be dry, while there is dew all over the ground.”