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Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 6:1-40

Click image for full-size versionClick image for full-size versionGod prepares Gideon (6:1-40)Israel’s return to sinful and idolatrous ways met its punishment in the raids of the Midianites. As usual the Amalekites were pleased to join in the attack. Year by year, for seven years, the invaders rode their army of camels from the deserts of Arabia, crossed the Jordan, and raided the fields and herds of the helpless Israelites. Their attacks reached as far north as Naphtali and as far west as... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 6:3

Judges 6:3. Children of the east— Children of Kedem, i.e. Ishmaelites. Hiller. Onomastic, p. 534. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 6:1-5

D. The fourth apostasy 6:1-10:5The writer of Judges structured this book so the story of Gideon would be its focal center. Robert Chisholm Jr. argued that the events described in Judges 6:1 to Judges 16:31 were chronologically parallel to those in Judges 3:7 to Judges 5:31, thus harmonizing the events in Judges with 1 Kings 6:1. [Note: Robert B. Chisholm Jr., "The Chronology of the Book of Judges," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 52:2 (June 2009):247-55.] "Within the main body of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 6:1-10

Renewed apostasy and its punishment 6:1-10The Midianites were Bedouin nomads and descendants of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2) who occupied the plains that bordered the Arabian Desert to the east of Moab and Ammon. They were raiders who descended on the Israelites at harvest times, stole their crops and possessions, and then retreated to their own land (cf. Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:26; Isaiah 60:6). They did not want to kill the Israelites and take over their land. They preferred to let the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 6:1-32

1. The story of Gideon 6:1-8:32Paul Tanner pointed out that the Gideon narrative consists of five primary structural sections."The first section (Judges 6:1-10) provides the introduction and setting before Gideon’s debut, the second section (Judges 6:11-32) gives the commissioning of Gideon as deliverer of Israel, the third section (Judges 6:33 to Judges 7:18) presents the preparation for the battle, the fourth section (Judges 7:19 to Judges 8:21) recounts the defeat of the Midianite army, and... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 6:1-40

Gideon and the MidianitesThe story of Gideon, which runs from Judges 6:1 to Judges 8:33, is more detailed than that of Deborah and Barak; and, from the details, it would appear that different traditions have been used. Gideon, at the bidding of an angel, calls his clan together, and after reducing them to 300 men, and receiving the encouragement of a dream, surrounds the camp of the Midianites and throws them into a panic. The Ephraimites complete the defeat. The two kings of Midian are then... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 6:3

(3) When Israel had sown.—The invasions of these Arab tribes were of the most crushing and irritating kind. Living in idleness and marauding expeditions, they let the Israelites sow their corn, and came themselves to reap and carry it away. They said, “Let us take to ourselves the pastures of God”—i.e., the rich, blessed pastures—“in possession” (Psalms 83:12). Alyattes, king of Lydia, treated the people of Miletus in exactly the same way, leaving their houses un-destroyed, solely that they... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 6:4

(4) They encamped against them.—It is not implied that there were any battles. The Israelites were too wretched and helpless to offer any resistance. These Arabs would swarm over the Jordan, at the fords of Bethshean, about harvest-time, and would sweep away the produce of the rich plain of Jezreel and the whole Shephelah, even as far south as Gaza. (Comp. the Scythian invasion, alluded to in Zephaniah 2:5-6.)Destroyed the increase of the earth.—“Ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 6:5

(5) As grasshoppers.—See Judges 7:12. Rather, as locusts. The magnificent imagery of Joel 2:2-11 enables us to realise the force of the metaphor, and Exodus 10:4-6 the number of locusts, which are a common metaphor for countless hordes. Aristophanes (Ach. 150) speaks of an army so numerous that the Athenians will cry out, “What a mass of locusts is coming!” The Bedouin call the locusts Gurrud Allah, “Host of God” (Wetzstein, Hauran, p. 138).Their camels.—These were very uncommon in Palestine,... read more

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