Judges 6

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Judges 6

1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.

5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.

7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites,

8 That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;

10 And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

21 Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.

23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:

26 And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.

30 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.

31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.

32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

34 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.

38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html> Acted wickedly. Until this period, Scripture states, “They resumed [acting wickedly]” since their iniquities accumulated. However, through this hymn¹Sung by Devorah and Barak [ch.5]. they were granted forgiveness for all that they had perpetrated.²Anyone rescued miraculously who then sings a hymn of praise forgiven all his sins, as if he had been newly created. (Yalkut, 60) But now they began sinning anew. This interpretation is in Agadas Tehilim.</html>

Verse 2

<html> Retreats. Hidden places.³This is Targum Yonasan’s translation. In old French, “voutes”. Because a slight bit of illumination is positioned in them in some inconspicuous spot, they are referred to as מִנְהׇרוֹת, lit. “glimmerings”, “lucerno” in old French. Caves. “Grotte” in old French Stockades. “Palliser” in old French, “pales”, as it is constructed in the forest by felling trees around its perimeter.⁴The trees serve as the pales or stakes forming the stockade.</html>

Verse 5

<html> With their cattle to graze on the produce.</html>

Verse 8

<html> A prophet. This prophet was Pinchas.⁵ See above, 2:1. Taken from Seder Olam.</html>

Verse 11

<html> The Aviezrite. One of the sons of Aviezer ben Gilod ben Menasheh. His son Gidon. His father had been threshing, while he sifted. He told him, “Father, you are elderly. If the enemies come, you will never be able to escape. You leave, and I will thresh.” In the wine press. With beams of an olive press.</html>

Verse 12

<html> Adonoy is with you, man of supreme power. Since He infused you with such power.</html>

Verse 13

<html> If [lit. and] Adonoy is with us.⁶Not “And Adonoy is with us,” as the literal reading would indicate, but “If Adonoy is with us,” as demonstrated by the following phrase cited by Rashi, “why has [all this] occurred, etc.”. If Adonoy is with us, why has [all this] occurred, etc. Which our forefathers recounted to us. It was Pesach, and he told him, “Last night father recited the Hallel for me, and I heard him read, “When Yisroel departed from Egypt”⁷ “…the sea observed and fled, the Yardein turned back, etc.” (Tehilim, 114)—but now He has abandoned us. If our forefathers were saintly, let Him act in our behalf in their merit; and if they were wicked, then, just as He worked His wonders for them gratuitously, so, let Him act in our behalf. Where are all His marvels?”⁸Yalkut, 62.</html>

Verse 14

<html> Turned to him. The Holy One, blessed is He, Himself.⁹Gidon was visited by Adonoy himself in the merit of his advocacy of Yisroel. (Yalkut, ibid) By this power of yours. By the power of the merit of your advocacy of my children.¹⁰Ibid. This is R' Tanchuma's explanation.</html>

Verse 15

<html>Behold, my unit [lit. thousand]. The thousand member unit of which I am a constituent, under the command of its captain, is the most inadequate unit among all the units in Menasheh.</html>

Verse 17

<html> That you. The same as שֶׁאַתׇּה, with the segol vocalization.¹¹ שֶׁאַתׇּה, with the “kamatz” vocalization, which appears in the text, is the same as שֶׁאַתׇּה “that you.”</html>

Verse 19

<html> Matzos containing flour. We learn that it was Pesach, the day the Omer offering was waved.¹²On the second day of Pesach. (Vayikra, 23:11) This is why it is said,¹³Below, 7:13. “Behold, a toasted barley bread was careening,¹⁴ “… into the camp of Midyon. It reached the tent and struck it down.” This was in the merit of the Omer offering (Rashi, there, Yalkut, 62), which was made of barley. etc.” Soup. Broth.</html>

Verse 22

<html> Aahha. This denotes apprehension, as if to say, “What will become of me?” This, because I have seen. Because I have seen an angel of Adonoy—this is why I am apprehensive and exclaim “Aahha!”</html>

Verse 24

<html> Entitled it. Gidon named the altar.¹⁵The reading is, “[He] entitled it, ‘Adonoy is peace,’” not “Adonoy entitled it, ‘Peace.’”. Adonoy is peace. Adonoy is our peace.</html>

Verse 25

<html> Bullock [lit. bull ox]. The young bull, as even a day old ox is called an “ox”.¹⁶The inference of “Bull ox” is a bull that qualifies as an ox. Since even a day old bull qualifies, the reference is to a young bull. A second bull.וְתוֹרָא תִּנְיׇנׇא, “A second bull”.¹⁷This is Targum Yonasan’s rendition. Seven year. Which had been fattened for seven years to be brought as an idolatrous sacrifice. Eight prohibitions were suspended¹⁸ 1. The second bull, which had been designated as an idolatrous sacrifice, was now brought as an offering. 2. Utensils used previously for the Asheirah sacrifices were now used. 3. The wood of the Asheirah tree was used as fuel. 4. The offering was brought at night. 5. It was brought on a personal altar outside the Mishkon at Shiloh. 6. The second bull had been actually worshipped as a deity. 7. Gidon was not a Kohein. 8. He did not use the required sacred utensils. that night; 'designated', 'asheirah', 'night', 'altar', etc., as enumerated in Temurah.¹⁹29:a.</html>

Verse 26

<html> Top of the bulwark. Top of the rock.</html>

Verse 31

<html> You want to fight for [lit. “to”] the baal? For the sake of the baal. To avenge [lit. rescue] him. To exact vengeance for him.²⁰The literal translation of תּוֹשִׁיעוּן, “to rescue,” does not apply, since the idol was no longer endangered. The alternate interpretation, “to avenge,” is correct here. Similarly, “by my own hand exacting my vengeance,”²¹Shmuel 1, 25:33. הוֹשִׁיעָה is interpreted as “avenge.” by David concerning Novol. Whoever fights for [lit. “to”] him. For his sake. Wait until morning. Until morning, wait. If he is a god let him fight his own battle and exact his own vengeance. To rebuff them until Gidon could escape, he said this.</html>

Verse 32

<html> Fight against him. Against Gidon. In relation to רַיב, “fight”, the proper term is עִם, or אֶת, or בּוֹ, “with” [him], as in “he fought with Lavan”.²²Bereishis, 31:36. However, לוֹ, lit. “to”, is not the proper term. Every לוֹ mentioned here is interpreted as “for his sake.”</html>

Verse 34

<html> The Divine spirit. The spirit of valor. Aviezer gathered. The entire clan.</html>

Verse 38

<html> That is what occurred. The dew condensed on the fleece alone more than everywhere else, as it is said, “a full bowl of water.” However, “while all of the ground is dry” did not materialize, as a Divine covenant assures perpetual dew fall. He squeezed. The word connotes pressure. Similarly, “They were neither pressed nor bandaged.”²³Yeshaya, 1:6. They were not strapped in bandages to draw out the discharge.</html>

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Table of Contents

Judges 6

Judges 6

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 5

Verse 8

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 17

Verse 19

Verse 22

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 34

Verse 38