Chapter Six

1–7. The oppression by the Midianites. 8–10. The appearance of a prophet who condemns the people. 11–23. The appearance of the Angel of the Lord and the calling of Gideon. 24–32. The building of an altar to the Lord in Ophrah and the destruction of Baal’s altar. 33–35. The invasion of the Midianites and the Amalekites and the rising up of Gideon. 36–40. A sign from God to Gideon.

Judges 6:1. The sons of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years. When, after the death of Deborah and Barak, the Israelites again turned to a life displeasing in God’s sight, the Lord delivered them under the rule of the Midianites for seven years, who could also take revenge on them for their defeat in the time of Moses (Num 31:7). Regarding the Midianites see (Gen 25:2); (Exod 3:1).

Judges 6:2. The hand of the Midianites lay heavy upon Israel, and the sons of Israel made themselves caves in the mountains and caves and strongholds against the Midianites. Judges 6:3. When Israel sowed, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east would come up and attack them; Judges 6:4. and they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or donkey. Judges 6:5. For they came up with their livestock and their tents, and they came in as numerous as locusts; they and their camels were without number, and they came into the land of Israel to destroy it. Judges 6:6. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. United with the Amalekites, the fiercest and ancient enemies of the Israelites (Exod 17:8-16); (Num 24:20), the Midianites made raids upon the land of Israel, plundering livestock and crops and instilling such fear in the inhabitants that they hid from them in mountains and caves, building watchtowers and fortifications.

Judges 6:7. And when the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, Judges 6:8. the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel and said to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I brought you out of Egypt, I brought you out of the house of slavery; Judges 6:9. and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and I drove them out before you and gave you their land, Judges 6:10. and I said to you: “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in the land of whom you dwell”; but you did not listen to my voice. When the Israelites, because of oppression by the Midianites, turned with a plea for mercy to the Lord, He first sent them a prophet to condemn them, who, like the Angel of the Lord in Bochim (compare Judg 2:1-2), rebuked them for turning to idolatry.

Judges 6:11. Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, to hide from the Midianites. Judges 6:12. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: The Lord is with you, you mighty man! Judges 6:13. Gideon said to him: My lord! If the Lord is with us, why then has all this calamity befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of the Midianites. Judges 6:14. The Lord turned to him and said: Go with this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of the Midianites; I send you. Judges 6:15. Gideon said to him: Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. Judges 6:16. And the Lord said to him: But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. Judges 6:17. Gideon said to him: If I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me: Judges 6:18. please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring my offering and lay it before you. He said: I will stay until you return. Judges 6:19. Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. Judges 6:20. And the Angel of God said to him: Take the meat and the unleavened bread and place them on this stone, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Judges 6:21. Then the Angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the stone and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread; and the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Judges 6:22. When Gideon saw that it was the Angel of the Lord, Gideon said: Alas, O Lord God! for I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face. Judges 6:23. The Lord said to him: Peace to you; do not fear, you shall not die. Judges 6:24. Then Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it: [The Lord is Peace]. It still stands today in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. To save the people of Israel from the oppression of the Midianites, God chose Gideon, the son of Joash, who lived in Ophrah, in the tribe of Manasseh (probably modern Faratha, southwest of Nablus). Gideon was chosen through the appearance of the Angel of the Lord, who called him to liberate the people and in honor of whom Gideon built an altar on the spot of the appearance, “The Lord is Peace” (that is, “the Lord of peace”). This altar still existed in the time of the writer of the Book of Judges.

Judges 6:25. That night the Lord said to him: Take the bull that belongs to your father, even the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that is your father’s, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; Judges 6:26. and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this stronghold in an orderly way; and take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering on the wood of the Asherah that you cut down. Judges 6:27. So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him; but because he was afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city, he did it at night. Judges 6:28. When the men of the city rose early in the morning, they found the altar of Baal torn down and the Asherah beside it cut down, and the second bull offered as a burnt offering on the altar that had been built. Judges 6:29. And they said to one another: Who has done this thing? When they inquired and searched, they said: Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. Judges 6:30. Then the men of the city said to Joash: Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it. Judges 6:31. But Joash said to all who stood against him: Will you plead the case of Baal, or will you defend him? Whoever pleads his case shall be put to death by morning; if he is a god, let him plead for himself because his altar has been torn down. Judges 6:32. So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar. Chosen by the Lord to deliver his people from Midianite oppression, Gideon began the work of deliverance by uprooting idolatry among the people, which was the cause of their outward calamities: he tore down the altar of Baal, cut down the sacred tree, the idol of Asherah, that stood near his father’s house, and instead, on the rock where the destroyed altar stood, he built an altar to the Lord, in honor of whom he offered a seven-year-old bull as a burnt offering on a pyre made from the wood of Asherah. The people of Ophrah were angered by Gideon’s deed, in which they saw an insult to their revered shrine, and intended to stone him, but his father Gideon, who was apparently a priest among them, persuaded them not to do so, wisely pointing out to them that it is not fitting for men, being weaker beings, to stand up for the rights of an offended god, since he himself can take vengeance. The people, heeding Joash’s advice, left Gideon alone, but gave him a special nickname “Jerubbaal,” which means “Baal will contend with him.” Thus Gideon’s deed had most important consequences, for through it the people became convinced of the complete powerlessness of Baal.

Judges 6:32. So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar. Judges 6:33. Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east assembled together, crossed over, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Judges 6:34. But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon; he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. Judges 6:35. And he sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, and they were called out after him; he also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them. Judges 6:36. Then Gideon said to God: If you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, Judges 6:37. behold, I am placing a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said. Judges 6:38. And it was so; when he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung out dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. Judges 6:39. Then Gideon said to God: Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; please let me test once more with the fleece; let it be dry on the fleece alone, and on all the ground let there be dew. Judges 6:40. And God did so that night; it was dry on the fleece alone, and on all the ground there was dew. Meanwhile the Midianites and the Amalekites and the other tribes of eastern Arabia appeared again in Palestine, crossed the Jordan, and camped in the Esdraelon Valley. Now the new judge of Israel, full of inspiration, sounded the call for the liberation of the people, and the related tribe of Abiezer responded. Then he sent messengers to neighboring tribes, which also responded to his call, so that around Gideon there gathered ready for war from the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali about 32,000 (Judg 7:3). But in view of the numerical superiority of the enemy, Gideon did not venture to begin military operations without assurance of special help from God, and so, before the battle began, he asked God for a sign that the Lord would save Israel. The dew on the spread fleece and its absence on the surrounding objects in the first night, and dew on the ground but its absence on the same fleece in the second night were for Gideon a sign from God. * * * The Lord — Peace