translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JDG

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “in the eyes of.”


text: Heb “gave them into the hand of.”


text: Heb “the hand of Midian.”


text: Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”


text: Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.


text: Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”


text: Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him.” The translation assumes that וְעָלוּ ( vÿ ’ alu ) is dittographic (note the following עָלָיו , ’ alayv ).


text: Heb “They encamped against them.”


text: Heb “destroyed.”


text: Heb “the crops of the land.”


text: Heb “They left no sustenance in Israel.”


text: The words “they took away” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “came up.”


text: Heb “numerous.”


text: Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”


text: Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.


text: Heb “the Lord ”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.


label: NET textual note

text: Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ ( me ’ erets , “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [ mimmitsrayim , “from Egypt”]).


text: Heb “hand” (also a second time later in this verse).


text: Heb “Do not fear.”


text: Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”


text: The adjective “angelic” is interpretive. sn The Lord ’s angelic messenger is also mentioned in Judg 2:1 .


text: Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ ו ] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.


text: Heb “beating out.”


text: Heb “Midian.”


text: Heb “But my lord.”


text: Heb “all this.”


text: Heb “saying.”


text: Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”


text: Heb “the hand of Midian.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’ adonay , “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’ adoniy , “my lord”) in v. 13 .


text: Heb “with what.”


text: Heb “in my father’s house.”


text: Or “certainly.”


text: Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11 ). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”


text: Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”


text: Heb “perform for me.”


text: The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה ( minkhah , “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.


text: Heb “a kid from among the goats.”


text: The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”


text: Heb “and he did so.”


text: Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”


text: Heb “went from his eyes.”


text: Heb “saw.”


text: Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Or “Ah!”


text: The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’ adonay yÿhvih , “Lord [the same title used in v. 15 ], Lord”) .


text: Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23 .


text: Heb “The Lord is peace.” Gideon’s name for the altar plays on the Lord ’s reassuring words to him, “Peace to you.”


text: Or “Take a bull from your father’s herd, the second one, the one seven years old.” Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.


text: Possibly “in a row” or “in a layer,” perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar’s construction.


text: Heb “men from among his servants.”


text: Heb “house.”


text: Heb “so he did it at night.”


text: Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.


text: Heb “each one to his neighbor.”


text: Heb “this thing.”


text: Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.


text: Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”


text: Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.


text: Heb “to all who stood against him.”


text: Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”


text: Heb “fights for him.”


text: Heb “fight for himself.”


text: Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).


text: Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”


text: Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east.”


text: The words “the Jordan River” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “clothed.”


text: That is, “mustered an army.”


text: Heb “Abiezer was summoned after him.”


text: Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”


text: More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”


text: The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “all the ground.”


text: Or “know.”


text: Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”


text: Heb “And it was so.”


text: Heb “dew dripped from the fleece – a bowl full of water.”


text: Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”


text: Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”


text: Heb “God did so that night.”