Judges Chapter 6

At a Glance

  • The chapter introduces Gideon, threshing wheat in a hollow (the winepress) to hide from Midian, a striking image of fear masking a stubborn seed of courage.
  • The episode of Gideon’s family and the sign given with the fleece shows a patient but firm divine pedagogy: God equips the unlikely.
  • Judges 6 belongs to the early phases of the Gideon cycle, set in a period probably around the 12th century BCE.
  • Gideon’s call narrative contrasts with earlier hero stories by foregrounding human hesitancy and the divine ability to partner with ordinary people.
  • - Divine calling of the unlikely: Gideon is pressed into leadership not because of natural prowess but because God’s power is made manifest through weakness.

Judges 6 unfolds the beginning of Gideon’s story, a turning point in the book where Israel’s pattern of apostasy, oppression, and miraculous deliverance through human weakness is once again dramatized. The narrative opens with a dreary portrait: Midianite oppression has driven Israel into hiding—dens in mountains, caves, and strongholds—because the enemy repeatedly raids crops and livestock, stripping the land of sustenance. The people cry out to the LORD, acknowledging their distress and dependence on God. This cry becomes the hinge that moves the plot toward divine initiative.

The chapter introduces Gideon, threshing wheat in a hollow (the winepress) to hide from Midian, a striking image of fear masking a stubborn seed of courage. The angel of the LORD appears to Gideon with a paradoxical blessing: “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” Gideon’s reluctance, his honest questions about God’s presence amid suffering, and his request for a sign reveal a human psyche wrestling with faith and doubt. God’s response—assurance and a call to deliver Israel—conflicts with Gideon’s fear, yet it reveals God’s preference for working through imperfect vessels.

The episode of Gideon’s family and the sign given with the fleece shows a patient but firm divine pedagogy: God equips the unlikely. The scene also underscores a recurring theme in Judges—the gap between divine possibility and human skepticism, bridged by God’s persistent, patient calling. The chapter ends with the commissioning of Gideon and a sense that deliverance is on the horizon, tempered by a reminder of the magnitude of the task and the need for trust in a God who can turn weakness into strength.

Judges 6 belongs to the early phases of the Gideon cycle, set in a period probably around the 12th century BCE. The genre is prose narrative with embedded theophanic encounters. The Book of Judges as a whole operates as a theological history, recounting judged leadership and cycles of faithfulness and apostasy that define Israel’s national experiences. The Midianite oppression frames a context of economic and existential peril; the land is stripped, and Israel’s vulnerability is front-and-center.

Gideon’s call narrative contrasts with earlier hero stories by foregrounding human hesitancy and the divine ability to partner with ordinary people. The style blends mythic-geographic imagery (the “winepress,” the sign-seeking fleece) with intimate dialogue between a divine messenger and a hesitant warrior. This chapter fits within the broader narrative arc: God remains faithful to His people even when they falter, and He sovereignly deploys unlikely instruments to accomplish deliverance. The appearance of the angel of the LORD signals the theophanic pattern characteristic of Judges, where God’s presence interrupts ordinary life to invite extraordinary action.

- Divine calling of the unlikely: Gideon is pressed into leadership not because of natural prowess but because God’s power is made manifest through weakness.

- Human doubt and divine patience: Gideon’s questions and fleece-signal episodes reveal a theology that invites honest doubt while insisting on trust in God’s promise.

- Salvation through obedient faith: The deliverance theme begins with obedience—though hesitant—recognizing that human strength is insufficient apart from God’s empowerment.

- Covenant memory and fulfillment: The narrative echoes God’s prior acts of deliverance (Exodus) while introducing a new layer of liberation for Israel in the Gideon era.

- The paradox of power: The “mighty man of valour” is not a fearless warrior but one who learns to depend on God’s power.

- Embracing God’s calling in weakness: Many readers feel inadequate for the tasks before them. Gideon’s arc invites trust that God can empower ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary purposes.

- Honest dialogue with God: The fleece episode models a faithful, realistic approach to prayer—expressing doubt, asking for assurance, and seeking signs while remaining committed to God’s direction.

- Courage in uncertain times: The Midianite threat mirrors today’s pressures—economic anxiety, social disintegration, fear of the future. God’s invitation remains: trust, step forward, and depend on divine empowerment.

- Community discernment and leadership: The story encourages collaborative discernment—recognizing that leadership is never solo and that God works through shared courage and calling.

- Reframing failure: The chapter reframes perceived weakness as a doorway to divine strength, challenging modern readers to see brokenness as a place where God can intervene.

- Exodus 3-4 (God calling Moses from weakness to leadership)

- 1 Samuel 16 (God choosing unlikely leaders)

- Romans 8 (God’s power made perfect in weakness)

- Psalm 20 (God’s deliverance to the faithful in distress)

- Moses (for the calling of the unlikely and God’s empowerment)

- Jesus (as the embodiment of trust in the Father and mission-driven courage)

- Paul (for seeing weakness as strength in ministry)

- Deborah (for leadership under pressure and God’s enabling presence)

- Gideon (as a model of hesitant faith becoming faithful action)

Key Themes

Divine calling of the unlikely: Gideon is pressed into leadership not because of natural prowess but because God’s power is made manifest through weakness.Human doubt and divine patience: Gideon’s questions and fleece-signal episodes reveal a theology that invites honest doubt while insisting on trust in God’s promise.Salvation through obedient faith: The deliverance theme begins with obedience—though hesitant—recognizing that human strength is insufficient apart from God’s empowerment.Covenant memory and fulfillment: The narrative echoes God’s prior acts of deliverance (Exodus) while introducing a new layer of liberation for Israel in the Gideon era.

Chapter Text

1

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

2

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

3

And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

4

And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.

5

For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

6

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

7

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,

8

That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

9

And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;

10

And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

11

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

12

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

13

And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

14

And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

15

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

16

And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

17

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

18

Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

19

And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

20

And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

21

Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

22

And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.

23

And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

24

Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:

26

And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

27

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

28

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

29

And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.

30

Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.

31

And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.

32

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

33

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

34

But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.

35

And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

36

And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

37

Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.

38

And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

39

And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

40

And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

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