So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east came up against them. They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza. They left no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it.
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Judges 6:3-5 sits inside this longer paragraph.
The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, so Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made themselves the dens which are in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds. So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east came up against them. They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza. They left no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it. Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.
Parallel Translations
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So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east came up against them.
They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza. They left no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey.
For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it.
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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;
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.
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.
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And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
and they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (34)
- Leviticus 26:16 (vv3–4) I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to…
- Judges 7:12 (vv3, 5) The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels…
- Deuteronomy 28:51 (vv3–4) They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine,…
- Judges 8:10 (vv3, 5) Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the…
- Judges 3:13 (v3) He gathered the children of Ammon and Amalek to himself; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees.
Show all 29 cross-references
- Judges 6:33 (v3) Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped…
- Micah 6:15 (vv3–4) You will sow, but won’t reap. You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil; and crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine.
- Genesis 29:1 (v3) Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east.
- 1 Kings 4:30 (v3) Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
- Job 1:3 (v3) His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very…
- Isaiah 60:6 (v5) A multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense,…
- Isaiah 65:21-22 (v3) They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit. They will…
- Deuteronomy 28:33 (v4) A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always,
- Isaiah 13:20 (v5) It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither…
- Jeremiah 46:23 (v5) They will cut down her forest,” says Yahweh, “though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.
- Jeremiah 49:9-10 (v4) If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had…
- Jeremiah 49:29 (v5) They will take their tents and their flocks. they will carry away for themselves their curtains, all their vessels, and their camels; and…
- Jeremiah 49:32 (v5) Their camels will be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a plunder. I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of…
- Genesis 10:19 (v4) The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon—as you go toward Gerar—to Gaza—as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha.
- Genesis 13:10 (v4) Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and…
- Deuteronomy 28:30-31 (v4) You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard,…
- Deuteronomy 28:30-33 (v3) You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard,…
- Judges 8:21 (v5) Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and…
- 1 Samuel 30:17 (v5) David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young…
- Job 31:8 (v3) then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
- Psalms 83:4-12 (v5) “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they have conspired together…
- Proverbs 28:3 (v4) A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.
- Song of Solomon 1:5 (v5) I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar’s tents, like Solomon’s curtains.
- Obadiah 1:5 (v4) “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, what disaster awaits you—wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers…
29 distinct cross-references across this passage (34 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Or, of Kedem.
Or, of Kedem.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Jdg 6:3 And [so] it was, when Israel had…
Jdg 6:3 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;
Ver. 3. And so it was, when Israel had sown.] This was threatened, {Deu 28:14-68} but not believed till it befell them, and the proverb {Joh 4:37} verified, "One soweth, and another reapeth."
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3–5 The children of the east, i.e. the Arabians, who…
The children of the east, i.e. the Arabians, who are commonly called the children of the east, as Gen 29:1; Jdg 8:10,11; Job 1:3; Eze 25:4. Not all the Arabians, for in that were many and divers people; but in the eastern part of Arabia.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–5 And so it was, when Israel had sown,.... Their…
And so it was, when Israel had sown,.... Their land, and it was grown up, and near being ripe, or quite; for the Midianites gave them no disturbance in the winter, and during seedtime, when they came out of their lurking holes, and manured their land, and sowed it:
that the Midianites came up; into the land of Canaan, from the other side Jordan, where their country lay, and which it seems lay lower than the land of Israel:
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and the Amalekites, and the children of the east: the former were implacable enemies of Israel, and on every occasion would join other nations in oppressing them; and the children of the east were Arabians, as Josephus (b) expressly affirms:
even they came up against them; all these three sorts of people in a confederacy.
(b) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 6. sect. 1.
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 On vv3–5 Children of the east - That is, the Arabians,…
Children of the east - That is, the Arabians, who are commonly called the children of the east. Not all the Arabians; but the eastern part of them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Verse 3. Children of the East] Probably those who…
Verse 3. Children of the East] Probably those who inhabited Arabia Deserta, Ishmaelites.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v3 Jdg 6:3-5. The children of the east — Probably…
Jdg 6:3-5. The children of the east — Probably the Ishmaelites, or Arabians, especially the eastern part of them. Unto Gaza — That is, from the east, on which side they entered, to the west, where Gaza was, near the Mediterranean sea. So that they destroyed the whole land. Without number — That is, so many that it was not easy to number them. And not in a regular army to engage, but in a confused swarm, to plunder the country. Yet Israel, being forsaken of God, had not spirit to make head against them; God fighting against them with those very terrors with which otherwise he would have fought for them.
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 On vv4–5 Gaza indicates the extreme point south to which they…
Gaza indicates the extreme point south to which they spread their devastations, crossing the Jordan near Bethshan (Scythopolls), and entering by the valley of Jezreel, and sweeping along the whole of the maritime plain or Shephelah.
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 On vv3–5 Amalec was formerly widely dispersed through Arabia. Some dwelt…
Amalec was formerly widely dispersed through Arabia. Some dwelt to the south of the promised land, Exodus xvii., Numbers xiii. 3., 1 Kings xv. 6., and xxxi. 1. But these inhabited the eastern countries, concerning whom Balaam spoke, Numbers xxiv. 20. The Amalecites were scattered from Hevila upon the Euphrates, as far as the Red Sea and Sur, which is near Egypt, 1 Kings xv. 7., and xxvii. 8. The other eastern nations denote those who inhabited the desert Arabia, the Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, Cedarenians, &c., Isaias xi. 14., Jeremias xlix. 28., and Ezechiel viii. 7.
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. So it was — Constantly for the seven…
3. So it was — Constantly for the seven years. Jdg_6:3-6 picture the ordinary state of the land during all this Midianite oppression.
The Amalekites — Also a nomadic race, who had dwindled into a band of robbers, and were ready to join with any stronger tribe in a predatory adventure. See on Jdg_3:13, and compare Gen_14:7; Exo_17:8.
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Children of the east — A general name applied indiscriminately to all the tribes that occupied the deserts east of Palestine. Compare Jdg_8:10.
The east — kedem — was a term naturally and appropriately given by the early Israelites to the vast range of desert country that lay before them toward the rising sun, as they gazed from the hills on the east of the Jordan.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. the Amalekites] Hereditary foes of Israel, Exo_17:8 ff.;…
3. the Amalekites] Hereditary foes of Israel, Exo_17:8 ff.; see on Jdg_3:13. The children of the East were Bedouin from the desert E. of Moab and Ammon; see Jer_49:28, Eze_25:4; Eze_25:10. These tribes appear again in Jdg_6:33 and Jdg_7:12. There is no reason why they should not have joined the Midianite raids, but they do not belong to the earlier form of the tradition which is concerned with the Midianites only.
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 On vv3–5 (3) When Israel had sown.—The invasions of these Arab…
(3) When Israel had sown.—The invasions of these Arab tribes were of the most crushing and irritating kind. Living in idleness and marauding expeditions, they let the Israelites sow their corn, and came themselves to reap and carry it away. They said, “Let us take to ourselves the pastures of God”—i.e., the rich, blessed pastures—“in possession” (Psa_83:12). Alyattes, king of Lydia, treated the people of Miletus in exactly the same way, leaving their houses un-destroyed, solely that they might be tempted to return to them, and plough and sow once more (Herod. i. 17). The same thing goes on to this day. The wretched Fellahîn, neglected and oppressed by the effete and corrupt Turkish Government, sow their corn, with the constant dread that they are but sowing it for the Bedouin, who yearly plunder them, unrepressed and unpunished. Hence the squalid towns and villages of the Fellahîn abound in huge subterranean places of concealment, in which they stow away their corn, and everything else of value which they possess, to save them from these wild marauders.
The Amalekites.—See Jdg_3:13; Gen_36:12.
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The children of the east.—Benî Kedem (Gen_25:6; Job_1:3) is a general name for Arabs, as Josephus rightly calls them. From Jdg_8:26 we can derive a picture of their chiefs in their gorgeous robes and golden ear-rings, mounted on dromedaries and camels, of which the necks were hung with moon-shaped ornaments of gold.
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 On vv3–5 Children of the east. We first find this term…
Children of the east. We first find this term in Gen_29:1, where it is applied to the people of Haran. Comparing the analogous phrases, "the east country", (Gen_25:6) the mountains of the east, (Num_23:7) "the men of the east", (Job_1:3) "the east", (Mat_2:1) we gather that the country lying to the east of Palestine as far as the river Euphrates was called the east country, and that the various tribes of Arabs and others who peopled that desert were called "the children of the cast". (see ver. 33 and Jud_1:7:12 8:10)
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 On vv3, 5 They would set up their army
They would set up their army
"The army would encamp" or "The army would set up their tents"
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translationWords
Israel
Midian
Amalek
Gaza
ewe
cow
donkey
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.