Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 6:33
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Equipment of Gideon for the Battle. - When the Midianites and their allies once more invaded the land of Israel, Gideon was seized by the Spirit of God, so that he gathered together an army from the northern tribes of Israel ( Jdg 6:33-35), and entreated God to assure him by a sign of gaining the victory over the enemy ( Jdg 6:36-40). Jdg 6:33-35 The enemy gathered together again, went over (viz., across) the Jordan in the neighbourhood of Beisan (see at Jdg 7:24 and Jdg 8:4), and encamped in the valley of Jezreel (see at Jos 17:16). "And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon" (לבשׁה, clothed, i.e., descended upon him, and laid itself around him as it were like a coat of mail, or a strong equipment, so that he became invulnerable and invincible in its might: see Ch1 12:18; Ch2 24:20, and Luk 24:49). Gideon then blew the trumpet, to call Israel to battle against the foe (see Jdg 3:27); "and Abiezer let itself be summoned after him." His own family, which had recognised the deliverer of Israel in the fighter of Baal, who was safe from Baal's revenge, was the first to gather round him. Their example was followed by all Manasseh, i.e., the Manassites on the west of the Jordan (for the tribes on the east of the Jordan took no part in the war), and the neighbouring tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali on the north, which had been summoned by heralds to the battle. "They advanced to meet them:" i.e., to meet the Manassites, who were coming from the south to the battle, to make war upon the enemy in concert with them and under the guidance of Gideon. עלה is used to denote their advance against the enemy (see at Jos 8:2), and not in the sense of going up, since the Asherites and Naphtalites would not go up from their mountains into the plain of Jezreel, but could only go down. Jdg 6:36-37 But before Gideon went into the battle with the assembled army, he asked for a sign from God of the success of his undertaking. "If Thou," he said to God, "art saving Israel through my hand, as Thou hast said, behold, I lay this fleece of wool upon the floor; if there shall be dew upon the fleece only, and dryness upon all the earth (round about), I know (by this) that Thou wilt save," etc. הצּמר גּזּת, the shorn of the wool; i.e., the fleece, the wool that had been shorn off a sheep, and still adhered together as one whole fleece. The sign which Gideon asked for, therefore, was that God would cause the dew to fall only upon a shorn fleece, which he would spread the previous night upon the floor, that is to say, upon some open ground, and that the ground all round might not be moistened by the dew. Jdg 6:38 God granted the sign. "And so it came to pass; the next morning, Gideon pressed the fleece together (יזר from זוּר), and squeezed (ימץ from מצה) dew out of the fleece a vessel full of water" (מלוא as in Num 22:18, and ספל as in Jdg 5:25). So copiously had the dew fallen in the night upon the fleece that was exposed; whereas, as we may supply from the context, the earth all round had remained dry. Jdg 6:39-40 But as this sign was not quite a certain one, since wool generally attracts the dew, even when other objects remain dry, Gideon ventured to solicit the grace of God to grant him another sign with the fleece, - namely, that the fleece might remain dry, and the ground all round be wet with dew. And God granted him this request also. Gideon's prayer for a sign did not arise from want of faith in the divine assurance of a victory, but sprang from the weakness…
This public page shows a contextual excerpt from the locally available source text.
How to use this source
This excerpt is attributed to its named commentary. It is included as a historical study resource and should be evaluated in light of Scripture and other relevant evidence.
