Hakim-hakim 7:2

7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. ¹  Israel might brag, ²  ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ ³ 

Hakim-hakim 7:12-25

7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. ⁴  Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. ⁵  The man ⁶  said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw ⁷  a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” ⁸  7:14 The other man said, ⁹  “Without a doubt this symbolizes ¹⁰  the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

Gideon Routs the Enemy

7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. ¹¹  Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. ¹²  He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. ¹³  7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! ¹⁴  I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp ¹⁵  at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. ¹⁶  7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. ¹⁷  Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order ¹⁸  all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. ¹⁹  7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords ²⁰  throughout ²¹  the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went ²²  to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. ²³ 

Gideon Appeases the Ephraimites

7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. ²⁴  Take control of the fords of the streams ²⁵  all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” ²⁶  When all the Ephraimites had assembled, ²⁷  they took control of the fords ²⁸  all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. ²⁹  They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb ³⁰  in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites ³¹  and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. ³² 

[7:2]  ¹ tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”

[7:2]  ³ tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”

[7:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”

[7:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”

[7:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.

[7:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”

[7:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[7:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”

[7:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”

[7:16]  ¹² tn Heb “heads.”

[7:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:16]  sn They hid the torches inside the earthenware jars to disguise their approach and to keep the torches from being extinguished by the breeze.

[7:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “look.”

[7:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”

[7:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “that were in their hands.”

[7:20]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “each in his place.”

[7:21]  ¹⁹ tn Or “fled.”

[7:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord set the sword of each one against his friend.”

[7:22]  ²¹ tc MT has “and throughout the camp,” but the conjunction (“and”) is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.

[7:22]  ²² tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[7:23]  ²³ tn Heb “Midian.”

[7:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to meet Midian.”

[7:24]  ²⁵ tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”

[7:24]  ²⁶ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).

[7:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”

[7:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they captured the waters.”

[7:25]  ²⁹ sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.

[7:25]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:25]  ³¹ tn Heb “Midian.”

[7:25]  ³² tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).