Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
Parallel Translations
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Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
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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.
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And Gideon said unto him: 'Oh, my lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all His wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying: Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.'
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Judges 6:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 77:7-9 “Will the Lord reject us forever? Will he be favorable no more? Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?”
- 2 Chronicles 15:2 and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
- Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save; nor his ear dull, that it can’t hear. But your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
- Psalms 44:1 We have heard with our ears, God; our fathers have told us what work you did in their days, in the days of old.
- Genesis 25:22 The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it is like this, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh.
- Deuteronomy 30:17-18 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them, I declare to you today that you will surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it.
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’
- Psalms 78:3-4 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
- Psalms 89:49 Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, which you swore to David in your faithfulness?
- Isaiah 41:17 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Isaiah 63:15 Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
- Exodus 33:14-16 He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses said to him, “If your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us up from here. For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?”
- Romans 8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Numbers 14:14-15 They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,
- Deuteronomy 29:24 Even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”
- Psalms 27:9 Don’t hide your face from me. Don’t put your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Don’t abandon me, neither forsake me, God of my salvation.
- Jeremiah 23:33 “When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, asks you, saying, ‘What is the message from Yahweh?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘ “What message? I will cast you off,” says Yahweh.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain This came not of distrust, but of weakness of…
This came not of distrust, but of weakness of faith, which is in the most perfect: for no man in this life can have a perfect faith: yet the children of God have a true faith, whereby they be justified.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 6:13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my…
Jdg 6:13 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.
Ver. 13. Why then is all this befallen us?] As if that could not be, and they in durance. But we must frame a new Bible, saith one, ere we can find any colour out of God’s afflicting us, to prove that he doth not love us, and hath forsaken us. Non deserit etiamsi deserat, saith a father.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the Lord looked upon him,.... The same before…
And the Lord looked upon him,.... The same before called the angel of the Lord, and who was no other than Jehovah himself; who looked upon him with great earnestness, and with great delight and pleasure smiled upon him, and thereby showing he had a kindness for him, and meant well to him: and
said unto him, go in this thy might; both of body and mind, which had been before given unto him, and was now increased, and which no doubt Gideon was sensible of:
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and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites; as he did, and therefore justly reckoned among the saviours and judges of Israel:
have not I sent thee? to do this great work, save the people of Israel, from whence Gideon might perceive who it was that talked with him, and having a command and commission from God, had authority enough to go about this service.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain With us - The angel had said, Peace be…
With us - The angel had said, Peace be with Thee: but he expostulates for All: herding himself with all Israel, and admitting no comfort, but what they might be sharers in.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. And Gideon said unto him] This speech…
Verse 13. And Gideon said unto him] This speech is remarkable for its energy and simplicity; it shows indeed a measure of despondency, but not more than the circumstances of the case justified.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 6:13. If the Lord be with us, why…
Jdg 6:13. If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? — All this trouble and distress from the incursions of the Midianites? All this loss, and grief, and dismay? Where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of? — We are too apt to conclude, that those instances of God’s power which have not been exerted for a long time will never be renewed. Gideon seems here to have given way to this common weakness of our nature and tendency to unbelief and distrust of God’s power, and love, and faithfulness. And we frequently find the prophets expostulating with the people for thinking that the hand of the Lord was shortened, or that he could not exert the same wonderful power, producing the same glorious effects for them which he had formerly exerted and produced for their fathers. The angel had spoken to him in particular, The Lord is with THEE: but he pleads and expostulates for all, If the Lord be with US — Associating himself with the thousands of Israel, and admitting no comfort but what they might be sharers in. Gideon does not seem yet to have had any idea that the person that spoke to him was an angel or heavenly being; but appears to have taken him only for some respectable person, or at most a prophet, for the expression, my Lord, with which he addresses him, was no more than was generally used toward persons of respectability.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The extreme bitterness of the national sufferings under the…
The extreme bitterness of the national sufferings under the Midianite occupation breaks out in Gideon’s language. The Angel’s words, suitable to times of prosperity, seemed to be a mockery, when it was evident the Lord was not with them. (Compare Deu 31:17.)
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain My lord. This he says out of respect, supposing…
My lord. This he says out of respect, supposing that he was addressing a prophet, (Haydock) or some virtuous person, of whom he desires to know what reasons could be given for the assurance of divine favour, which he held out. He speaks not out of distrust. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain if the Lord be with us, why then is…
if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?--Gideon's language betrays want of reflection, for the very chastisements God had brought on His people showed His presence with, and His interest in, them.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. his wondrous works … from Egypt] Cf. Exo_3:20;…
13. his wondrous works … from Egypt] Cf. Exo_3:20; Exo_34:10, Jos_3:5 J. Tradition, handed down from father to son (Psa_44:1; Psa_78:3), regarded the deliverance from Egypt and the divine interventions during the wanderings as the starting-point and evidence of Jehovah’s special relation to Israel. These words have the appearance of a later insertion.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Oh my Lord.—The title is here only one…
(13) Oh my Lord.—The title is here only one of courtesy (adoni, like kurie; “sir” in Joh_20:19, &c.),for Gideon only saw in the angel a stranger seated beneath the terebinth which overshadowed the rock-hewn wine-vat in which he was working.
Why then is all this befallen us?—See Deu_31:17 : “Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?” The words “all this” sound like an echo of Gideon’s gloomy thoughts—the thoughts of his country and his brothers, which had been darkening his soul amid his hard toil. “A mighty indication of God’s favour to me that I am forced to use this wine-press instead of a threshing-floor” (Jos.).
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Where be all his miracles?—See Psa_78:12; Psa_89:49.
The Lord hath forsaken us.—See Psa_13:1; 2Ch_15:2 : “If ye forsake him, he will forsake you.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If the Lord be with us, etc. The utter…
If the Lord be with us, etc. The utter dejection caused by the Midianite oppression breathes in every word spoken by Gideon. But how reassuring the angel"s words were. Which our fathers told us of. This is a distinct reference to the national traditions. (which are elsewhere alluded to Exo_12:26, 27 Psa_44:1 Psa_78:3-5 Jer_16:14)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 my master
my master
Gideon uses the word "master" as a polite way to greet a stranger. He does not realize he is speaking to Yahweh in the form of an angel or a man.
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Where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers told us about, when they said, 'Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?'
Gideon uses a question to challenge the stranger's statement that Yahweh was with him. Also, the direct quotation can be stated as an indirect quotation. AT: "We have not seen any wonderful deeds like the ones our fathers told us about when Yahweh brought them up from Egypt." (See: Rhetorical Question and Direct and Indirect Quotations)
gave us into the hand of Midian
The phrase "gave us into" means Yahweh allowed the Israelites to be defeated. AT: "allowed the Midianites to defeat us" (See: Idiom)
gave us into the hand
Here "hand" represents power or control. (See: Metonymy)
of Midian
Here "Midian" represents the people of Midian. AT: "of the Midianites" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Gideon
lord
Yahweh
works
ancestor
Egypt
hand
Midian
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.