Judges 6:12

(12) The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.—Three words in the Hebrew: Jehovah immekâ, Gibbor. It was once a salutation and a blessing. (Comp. Joshua 1:5; Luke 1:28). The address seems to show that Gideon had already distinguished himself by bravery in war; it can hardly refer to the vigour with which he was wielding the flail. Only the second and third of the three epochs of his life are narrated; but we see from scattered glimpses that he and his brothers had possibly taken part already in some battle on Mount Tabor—possibly even (so scanty are all our details, and so little certain is the chronology) in the struggle against the Canaanites (Judges 8:18; Judges 4:6); that he was a man of kingly presence, and had a youthful son; that he had numerous slaves, and even an armour-bearer (Judges 7:10; Judges 8:20).