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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 6:2

(2) The hand of Midian prevailed.—See Judges 3:10. This oppression is wholly different from that with which we have been dealing in the last chapter. That was the last great attempt of the old inhabitants to recover their lost country; this is a foreign invasion.The dens which are in the mountains.—The word mineharoth, rendered dens (LXX., mandrai), occurs here only. Rashi and Kimchi render it, “caves lighted from above,” deriving it from neharah, “light” (Job 3:4). They were probably thinking... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Judges 6:1-40

Gideon the Humble Judges 6:0 I. At first sight the character of Gideon is a very inconsistent one. It seems to be composed of two opposite sides towering aspiration and drooping humility. Was there not imposed upon him a great, a responsible destiny a destiny which he must not seek to evade. Was he not bound to become the Saviour of Israel. So speaks the one side of his nature the aspiring side. But there is another side. This same Gideon is the most humble of men, the most shrinking, the most... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Judges 6:1-14

THE DESERT HORDES; AND THE MAN AT OPHRAHJudges 6:1-14JABIN king of Canaan defeated and his nine hundred chariots turned into ploughshares, we might expect Israel to make at last a start in its true career. The tribes have had their third lesson and should know the peril of infidelity. Without God they are weak as water. Will they not bind themselves now in a confederacy of faith, suppress Baal and Astarte worship by stringent laws and turn their hearts to God and duty? Not yet: not for more... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Judges 6:1-40

4. Fourth Declension: Under Midian and Gideon, Tola and Jair CHAPTER 6 1. Israel’s suffering from Midian (Judges 6:1-6 ) 2. Their repentance and the divine answer (Judges 6:7-10 ) 3. Gideon, the deliverer, chosen (Judges 6:11-24 ) 4. The restored worship (Judges 6:25-32 ) 5. The gathering for the conflict (Judges 6:33-35 ) 6. The sign of the fleece (Judges 6:36-40 ) After Deborah and Barak the land had fifty years’ rest, and when again they did evil they were delivered into the... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Judges 6:2

6:2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: {a} [and] because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which [are] in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.(a) For fear of the Midianites, they fled into the dens of the mountains. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 6:1-40

THE OPPRESSION OF MIDIAN (vv.1-10) However, Israel again repeated the evil of departing from the Lord. This time the Lord used Midian to put them under a yoke of oppression which lasted seven years (v.1). Midian also attacks the saints of God today.Its name means "strife," so it speaks of the spirit of quarreling that too frequently arises in the Church of God, and often results in divisions and separations. Because of the Midianites the children of Israel made dens, caves and strongholds... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Judges 6:1-40

GIDEON AND THE MIDIANITES The old story of sin and suffering is repeated after the death of Deborah. The Midianites occupied territory on the south and east, contiguous to Moab, and were wandering herdsmen like the modern Bedouins, who, in connection with the Amalekites, harassed Israel at every opportunity with the results indicated in Judges 6:1-6 . God sends a prophet to His people in this case before He sends a Savior (Judges 6:7-10 ), for they must be brought to repentance before... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Judges 6:1-40

Gideon Judges 6-8 AT the close of the song of Deborah "the land had rest forty years." The sixth chapter begins with the usual black line: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." These comings and goings of evil in human history seem to be fated. Men never get so clear away from evil as never to come back again to it; at any moment the course of life may be reversed, and the altar, the vow, the song, and the prayer may be forgotten like vanished summers. This makes the... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Judges 6:2

Reader! do not fail to remark with me how conscious guilt breeds fear. Is this Israel, victorious Israel, that skulks away, and from a contemptible people whom their fathers had overrun and almost destroy ed. See Numbers 31:7 . But alas! is it not so with all God's Israel? Dearest Jesus! how doth a sense of my manifold departures from thee induce fear and timidity in my heart. And what confidence doth the enemy make of it, to create shyness in my trust in thee? I feel at such seasons the whole... read more

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