Глава 6

1–7. Yoke of the Midianites. 8–10. The appearance of the prophet-accuser. 11–23. The appearance of the Angel of the Lord and the calling of Gideon. 24–32. The building of an altar to the Lord at Ophrah and the destruction of the altar of Baal. 33–35. The invasion of Midian and Amalek and the rebellion of Gideon. 36–40. Sign of God to Gideon. Judges 6:1. The children of Israel again began to do evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Midianites for seven years. When, after the death of Deborah and Barak, the Israelites again indulged in a life that was displeasing in the eyes of God, the Lord handed them over to the rule of the Midianites for seven years, who could also take revenge on them for their defeat during the time of Moses (Num. 31:7). About the Midianites cf. Gen.25:2; Ex.3:1. Judges 6:2. The hand of the Midianites was heavy against Israel, and the children of Israel made for themselves from the Midianites ravines in the mountains and caves and fortifications. Judges 6:3. When Israel sows, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the inhabitants of the east will come and walk among them; Judges 6:4. and they stand with them as tents, and destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza, and leave not a sheep, nor an ox, nor a donkey for food for Israel. Judges 6:5. For they came with their cattle and with their tents; they came in such multitudes as locusts; they and their camels were without number, and they walked through the land of Israel to devastate it. Judges 6:6. And Israel became very poor because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Having united with the Amalekites, the worst and primordial enemies of the Israelites (Ex. 17:8-16; Num. 24:20), the Midianites raided the land of Israel, plundered livestock and crops and brought such fear to the inhabitants that they hid from them in the mountains and caves, setting up watchtowers and fortifications. Judges 6:7. And when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord against the Midianites, Judges 6:8. The Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel and said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought you out of Egypt, I brought you out of the house of slavery; Judges 6:9. delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all those who oppressed you, drove them out from before you and gave you their land, Judges 6:10. and said to you: “I am the Lord your God; do not honor the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live”; but you did not listen to My voice. When the Israelites, as a result of oppression from the Midianites, turned to the Lord with a prayer for mercy, He first sent them a prophet-accuser, who, like the Angel of the Lord in Bochim (cf. Judges 2: 1-2), convicted them for falling into idolatry. Judges 6:11. And the angel of the Lord came and sat at Ophrah under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer; His son Gideon was then beating wheat in a wine press to hide from the Midianites. Judges 6:12. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him: The Lord is with you, strong man! Judges 6:13. Gideon said to him: My lord! If the Lord is with us, then why has all this [disaster] befallen us? and where are all His miracles that our fathers told us about, saying: “The Lord brought us out of Egypt”? Now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Judges 6:14. The Lord, looking at him, said: Go with this thy strength and save Israel from the hand of the Midianites; I'm sending you. Judges 6:15. [Gideon] said to him: Lord! How can I save Israel? Behold, my tribe in the tribe of Manasseh is the poorest, and I am the youngest in my father’s house. Judges 6:16. And the Lord said to him: I will be with you, and you will smite the Midianites as one man. Judges 6:17. [Gideon] said to Him: If I have found grace in Your sight, then show me a sign that You speak to me: Judges 6:18. do not leave here until I come to You and bring my gift and offer it to You. He said: I will stay until your return. Judges 6:19. Gideon went and prepared a kid and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; He put the meat in a basket, and poured the stew into a pot and brought it to Him under the oak tree and offered it. Judges 6:20. And the Angel of God said to him: Take the meat and unleavened bread, and put it on this stone, and pour out the broth. He did just that. Judges 6:21. The angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread; and fire came out of the stone and ate the flesh and the unleavened bread; and the Angel of the Lord hid from his sight. Judges 6:22. And Gideon saw that it was the Angel of the Lord, and Gideon said: Woe is me, Sovereign Lord! because I saw the Angel of the Lord face to face. Judges 6:23. The Lord said to him: peace be with you, do not be afraid, you will not die. Judges 6:24. And Gideon built there an altar to the Lord and called it: [Jehovah Shalom] 2. To this day he is in Ofra Aviezerova... To liberate the people of Israel from the yoke of the Midianites, God chose Gideon, the son of Joash, who lived in Ophrah, in the tribe of Manasseh (probably modern Peratah, southwest of Naplus). The election of Gideon was accomplished through the appearance of the Angel of the Lord to him, who called him to liberate the people and in whose honor Gideon built the altar “Jehovah-Shalom” (i.e., “Lord of the world”) at the site of his appearance. This altar existed during the time of the writer of the book of Judges. Judges 6:25. That night the Lord said to him, “Take a bull from your father’s herd and another seven-year-old bull, and destroy the altar of Baal that is with your father, and cut down the sacred tree that is with it, Judges 6:26. and you shall build the altar to the Lord your God, [who appeared to you] on the top of this rock, in order, and take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering on the wood of the tree that you cut down. Judges 6:27. Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the Lord told him; But since he was afraid of his father’s household and the inhabitants of the city to do this during the day, he did it at night. Judges 6:28. In the morning the inhabitants of the city arose, and behold, the altar of Baal was destroyed, and the tree beside it was cut down, and the second calf was offered up as a burnt offering on the newly built altar. Judges 6:29. And they said to each other: who did this? They searched, questioned and said: Gideon, the son of Joash, did this. Judgment 6:30 . And the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy son; he must die because he destroyed the altar of Baal and cut down the tree that was with it. Judges 6:31. Joash said to all those who came to him: Should you stand up for Baal, should you defend him? whoever stands up for him will be put to death that very morning; if he is God, then let him stand up for himself, because he destroyed his altar. Judges 6:32. And from that day on he began to call him Jerubbaal, because he said: Let Baal himself sue him because he destroyed his altar. Chosen by the Lord to deliver his people from the Midianite yoke, Gideon began the work of deliverance by eradicating idolatry among the people, which was the cause of its external disasters: he destroyed the altar of Baal, cut down the sacred tree, the idol of Asherah, which were located near his father’s house, and instead, on the rock where the destroyed altar stood, he erected an altar to the Lord, in whose honor on a fire made of wood Asherah offered a seven-year-old bull as a burnt offering. The inhabitants of Ofra were outraged by Gideon’s act, in which they saw an insult to the shrine they revered, and were about to stone him, but Gideon’s father, who was apparently their priest, persuaded them not to do this, prudently pointing out to them that people, as the weakest creatures, should not stand up for the rights of the offended god, since he himself can avenge himself. The people, heeding the admonition of Joash, left Gideon alone, but gave him a special nickname “Jerubbaala,” which means “Baal will take revenge on him.” Thus, Gideon’s act had very important consequences, since through him the people were convinced of the complete powerlessness of Baal. Judges 6:33. Meanwhile all the Midianites and Amalekites and the inhabitants of the east gathered together, crossed [the river] and camped in the valley of Jezreel. Judges 6:34. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; he sounded the trumpet, and the tribe of Abiezer was called to follow him. Judges 6:35. And he sent messengers throughout all the tribe of Manasseh, and they volunteered to go after him; He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and these came to meet them. Judges 6:36. And Gideon said to God, If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken, Judges 6:37. then, behold, I will spread shorn wool here on the threshing floor: if there is dew only on the wool, but the whole earth is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel with my hand, as You said. Judges 6:38. And so it happened: the next day, getting up early, he began to squeeze the wool and squeezed a whole cup of water out of the wool. Judges 6:39. And Gideon said to God: Do not be angry with me if I say it again and only once again do the test on the wool: let it be dry on the wool alone, and let there be dew on the whole earth. Judges 6:40 . God did just that that night: only the wool was dry, but there was dew on the whole earth. Meanwhile, the Midianites and Amalekites, and with them some other tribes of eastern Arabia, again appeared in Palestine, crossed the Jordan and settled in the Ezdrelon Valley. Now the new judge of Israel, full of inspiration, shouted a cry for the liberation of the people, to which the tribe of Abiezer, kindred to him, responded. Then he sent envoys to the adjacent tribes, who also responded to his call, so that around Gideon, up to 32,000 gathered from the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali ready for war (Judges 7:3). But, in view of the numerical superiority of the enemy, Gideon did not dare to begin military operations without confidence in God’s special help, and therefore, before the start of the battle, he asked God for a sign that the Lord would save Israel. Dew on the spread wool and its absence on other adjacent objects on the first night and dew on the ground, but its absence on the same wool on the second night were such a sign from God for Gideon. You might be interested in: