¹tn Heb “and all the people who were with him.”
²sn The name Harod means, ironically, “trembling.”
³tn Heb “Midian.” The LXX reads “and Amalek” (cf. v. 12; 6:33).
⁴tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
⁵tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
⁶tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
⁷tn Heb “call into the ears of the people.”
⁸tn Heb “afraid and shaking.”
⁹tc Many interpreters reject the MT reading “and leave Mount Gilead” for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, “So Gideon tested them” (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).
¹⁰tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because warriors are in view, and in ancient Israelite culture these would be only males. (This is also the case in vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
¹¹tn Or “turned around, back.”
¹²tn Heb “too many people.”
¹³tn Heb “test them for you there.”
¹⁴tn Heb “he should go with you.”
¹⁵tn Heb also has “to you.”
¹⁶tn Heb “he should not go.”
¹⁷tn Heb “the people.”
¹⁸tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”
¹⁹tc The Hebrew text adds, “with their hands to their mouths,” This makes no sense in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would use their hands). It seems likely that the words “with their hands to their mouths” have been misplaced from v. 6. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place.
²⁰tn Heb “the people.”
²¹tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
²²tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
²³tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
²⁴tn Heb “The people.”
²⁵tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
²⁶tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”
²⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²⁸tn Heb “tents.”
²⁹tn Heb “Midian.”
³⁰tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).
³¹tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³²tn Heb “Go down against.”
³³tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
³⁴tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
³⁵tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
³⁶tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
³⁷tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
³⁸tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³⁹tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
⁴⁰tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”
⁴¹tn Heb “answered and said.”
⁴²tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”
⁴³tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”
⁴⁴tn Heb “heads.”
⁴⁵tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
sn They hid the torches inside the earthenware jars to disguise their approach and to keep the torches from being extinguished by the breeze.
⁴⁶tn Or “look.”
⁴⁷tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”
⁴⁸tn Heb “that were in their hands.”
⁴⁹tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
⁵⁰tn Heb “each in his place.”
⁵¹tn Or “fled.”
⁵²tn Heb “the Lord set the sword of each one against his friend.”
⁵³tc 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.
⁵⁴tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁵⁵tn Heb “Midian.”
⁵⁶tn Heb “to meet Midian.”
⁵⁷tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”
⁵⁸tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).
⁵⁹tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”
⁶⁰tn Heb “they captured the waters.”
⁶¹sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.
⁶²tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
⁶³tn Heb “Midian.”
⁶⁴tn 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).