Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

6:1-6 After forty years of peace, religious syncretism had brought about political instability, and marauding nomads had reduced the Israelites to living as fugitives. • The Midianites were once thought to be a purely nomadic tribe centered in northwest Arabia, but they are now understood to have built cities and for a time to have dominated much of the Arabian Peninsula and southern Transjordan (the area east of the Jordan). They are joined here by Amalekites (who earlier were part of a Moabite coalition; see study note on 3:12-13) and the mysterious people of the east (cp. 1 Kgs 4:30; Ezek 25:4, 10). The pattern of attack was seasonal but devastating.

Verse 5

6:5 Camels, known in some contexts from as early as 3000 BC, are frequently associated with eastern nomads and their raids. This may be one of the first recorded instances of camels being used in a large military force.

Verse 8

6:8-10 This unnamed prophet and Deborah are the only prophets to appear in Judges. This prophet rebuked Israel’s apostasy in language familiar from Deuteronomy onward.

Verse 11

6:11-32 Gideon encountered the angel of the Lord and emerged as a hero. He overthrew the syncretistic Baal cult of his family and town and called his people to fight in the Lord’s name.

Verse 12

6:12 Mighty hero translates a Hebrew term that is elsewhere translated as “strong warriors” (Josh 6:2), pointing to Gideon’s potential military heroism, and as “the rich” (2 Kgs 15:20), pointing to his social standing as a member of a leading family. • the Lord is with you: A commission to fight God’s war is usually accompanied by assurance of his presence (see Deut 1:30; Josh 1:1-9).

Verse 13

6:13-15 Like others called to be prophets or judges, Gideon was reluctant to obey. He questioned God’s presence and his own adequacy (see study note on 4:8; Exod 3:1–4:17; Jer 1:4-19).

Verse 15

6:15 Gideon’s personal and clan status was itself insufficient to muster troops.

Verse 22

6:22 Encounters with divine holiness are inherently dangerous (cp. Gen 32:30; Deut 5:4-5).

Verse 24

6:24 The symbolically named altar commemorates the divine presence and favor. By the time the account was written down (to this day), the altar had probably become a pilgrimage site.

Verse 25

6:25-32 In a provocative act that was commanded by God, Gideon destroyed and desecrated a community altar to Baal and its Asherah pole.

6:25 In Canaanite worship, Baal was a storm and fertility god, while Asherah was often represented as a sacred tree.

Verse 31

6:31 The first person to follow Gideon’s inspired act of leadership and abandon Baal for the Lord was Gideon’s father Joash, who was, ironically, the keeper of the Baal shrine.

Verse 33

6:33 The nomadic coalition (6:1-6) set up camp at the eastern end of the valley of Jezreel, which divided Israel’s central tribes from the Galilean hills.

Verse 34

6:34 As is typical of the inspired leaders in Judges, the Spirit clothed Gideon with power. A similar metaphor is frequent in Paul’s letters (e.g., Rom 13:12; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:24; 6:11; Col 3:10, 12, 14).

Verse 36

6:36-40 The fleece incident was not a confirmation of God’s intention to use Gideon (which had already been established, 6:17-24), but God’s indulgence in responding to the reluctant hero’s uncertainty.