Judges 7:3

Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
to	נָ֜א na'	H4994	'I pray' · interjection
proclaim	קְרָ֨א ke.Ra'	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
ears	בְּאָזְנֵ֤י be.'a.ze.Nei	H241	broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
people	הָעָם֙ ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
fearful	יָרֵ֣א ya.Re'	H3373	fearing · adjective, masculine singular absolute
afraid	וְחָרֵ֔ד ve.cha.Red	H2730	fearful · conjunction + adjective, masculine singular absolute
return	יָשֹׁ֥ב ya.Sho	H7725	to turn back (hence · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
early	וְיִצְפֹּ֖ר ve.yitz.Por	H6852	to skip about · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine singular
mount	מֵהַ֣ר me.Har	H2022	a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Gilead	הַגִּלְעָ֑ד ha.gil.'Ad	H1568	Gilad · definite article + proper noun, a place name
returned	וַיָּ֣שָׁב vai.Ya.shov	H7725	to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
people	הָעָ֗ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
twenty	עֶשְׂרִ֤ים 'es.Rim	H6242	twenty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
two	וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙ u.she.Na.yim	H8147	two · conjunction + noun, common both genders dual absolute
thousand	אֶ֔לֶף 'E.lef	H505	hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders singular absolute
remained	נִשְׁאָֽרוּ nish.'A.ru	H7604	properly · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
ten	וַעֲשֶׂ֥רֶת va.'a.Se.ret	H6235	ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
thousand	אֲלָפִ֖ים 'a.la.Fim	H505	hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 20:8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and…
Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him…
Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall ha…
Matthew 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is of…
Luke 14:25-33 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 7:1-8

Here, I. Gideon applies himself with all possible care and industry to do the part of a good general, in leading on the hosts of Israel against the Midianites (Jdg 7:1): He rose up early, as one whose heart was upon his business, and who was afraid of losing time. Now that he is sure God is with him he is impatient of delay. He pitched near a famous well, that his army might not be distressed for want of water, and gained the higher ground, which possibly might be some advantage to him, for the Midianites were beneath him in the valley. Note, Faith in God's promises must not slacken, but rather quicken, our endeavours. When we are sure God goes before us, then we must bestir ourselves, Sa2 5…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 7:3

Now therefore . . ., proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful . . . let him return--This proclamation was in terms of an established law (Deu 20:8).

John Gill on Judges 7:3

Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people,.... Such a proclamation as follows, was, according to the law of God, to be made when Israel went out to battle against their enemies, Deuteronomy 20:8; though it looks as if Gideon would not have made such proclamation, had he not been directed to it by the Lord, his army being so small in comparison of the enemy; and perhaps Gideon might understand that law to have respect only to war made for the enlargement of their country, and not for defence against invaders: saying, whosoever is fearful and afraid; to, engage in battle, because of the number of the enemy: let him return, and depart early from Mount Gilead; where it seems they…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 7:1-8

Mustering of the Army that Gideon had Collected. - Jdg 7:1. When Gideon had been assured of the help of God by this double sign, he went to the battle early the next morning with the people that he had gathered around him. The Israelites encamped above the fountain of Harod, i.e., upon a height at the foot of which this fountain sprang; but the camp of Midian was to him (Gideon) to the north of the hill Moreh in the valley (of Jezreel: see Jdg 6:33). The geographical situation of these two places cannot be determined with certainty. The fountain of Harod is never mentioned again, though there is a place of that name referred to in Sa2 23:25 as the home of two of David's heroes; and it was fr…

The Church Fathers

Does not the leader of our army, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, call out now to his soldiers and say, Whoever is "fearful and anxious of heart," let him not come to war with me? For this is also what he says in the Gospels in other words but with the same meaning: "Whoever does not take his own cross and come after me is not worthy of me," and again: "Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." Is not Christ thus culling out the fearful and anxious and sending them from his camp?… But don't let such a life of warfare turn you away; there really is nothing difficult, nothing arduous or impossible in it.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JUDGES 9.1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Dream — God has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to men. The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob (Gen. 28:12; 31:10), Laban (31:24), Joseph…
Esdraelon — The Greek form of the Hebrew “Jezreel,” the name of the great plain (called by the natives Merj Ibn Amer; i.e., “the meadow of the son of Amer”) which stretches across Central Palestine from the…
Gilead — Hill of testimony, (Gen. 31:21), a mountainous region east of Jordan. From its mountainous character it is called “the mount of Gilead” (Gen. 31:25). It is called also “the land of Gilead” (Num.…
Harod — Palpitation, a fountain near which Gideon and his army encamped on the morning of the day when they encountered and routed the Midianites (Judg. 7). It was south of the hill Moreh. The present ‘Ain…
Moreh, the Hill of — Probably identical with “little Hermon,” the modern Jebel ed-Duhy, or perhaps one of the lower spurs of this mountain. It is a gray ridge parallel to Gilboa on the north; and between the two lay the…
Armies · 20:5-9; — 20:5-9;
Armies Of Israel, The · The fearful allowed to leave — The fearful allowed to leave
Cowardice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Gilead · 2. A mountain — 2. A mountain
Soldiers · Cowards excused from duty as — Cowards excused from duty as

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 7:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 7:3

John Gill on Judges 7:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 7:1-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 7:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 7:3

John Gill on Judges 7:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 7:1-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 7:3