Judges 7:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Judges 7:5
So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
people
הָעָ֖םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
water
הַמָּ֑יִםha.Ma.yim
H4325
water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
LORD
יְהוָ֜הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Gideon
גִּדְע֗וֹןgid.'on
H1439
Gidon · proper noun, a man's name
lappeth
יָלֹק֩ya.Lok
H3952
to lick or lap · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
water
הַמַּ֜יִםha.Ma.yim
H4325
water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
tongue
בִּלְשׁוֹנ֨וֹbil.sho.No
H3956
the tongue (of man or animals) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
dog
הַכֶּ֗לֶבha.Ke.lev
H3611
a dog · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
lappeth
יָלֹ֣קya.Lok
H3952
to lick or lap · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
set
תַּצִּ֤יגta.Tzig
H3322
to place permanently · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
down
יִכְרַ֥עyikh.Ra'
H3766
to bend the knee · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
knees
בִּרְכָּ֖יוbir.Kav
H1290
a knee · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
drink
לִשְׁתּֽוֹתlish.Tot
H8354
to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
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).
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…
bring them down unto the water--When the wandering people in Asia, on a journey or in haste, come to water, they do not stoop down with deliberation on their knees, but only bend forward as much as is necessary to bring their hand in contact with the stream, and throw it up with rapidity, and at the same time such address, that they do not drop a particle. The Israelites, it seems, were acquainted with the practice; and those who adopted it on this occasion were selected as fit for a work that required expedition. The rest were dismissed according to the divine direction.
John Gill on Judges 7:5
So he brought them down to the water,.... His whole army of 10,000 men:
and the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shall thou set by himself; this has led some, as particularly Grotius, to think of the Egyptian dogs; of whom Aelianus relates (b), that they do not drink at once freely, and to satiety, being afraid of the crocodiles in the river; but run about the bank, and by stealth snatch a little here and a little there, and so satisfy themselves: but the allusion here is to dogs in common, whose usual way it is not to sup in, and drink a drought, but by putting out their tongues to lick and lap water with them, as Aristotle (c…
Limiting one's intake of water helps a great deal to obtain temperance. This was well understood by the three hundred Israelites accompanying Gideon just when they were preparing to attack Midian.
Dogs are commendable, not abominable. They observe fidelity toward their master, and before his house they bark against enemies. He has not simply said "of dogs" but "of your dog." Nor are their teeth praised, but their tongue is: for it was not indeed to no purpose, not without a great mystery, that Gideon was bidden to lead those alone who should lap the water of the river like dogs. Of such sort not more than three hundred among so great a multitude were found. In this number is the sign of the cross because of the letter T [tau], which signifies three hundred in the Greek numeral characters.
Dogs should not always be taken in an evil sense; otherwise the prophet would not blame "dogs not able to bark and loving to dream." Doubtless they would be praiseworthy dogs if they both knew how to bark and loved to watch. And certainly those three hundred men—a most sacred number according to the letter of the cross10—would not have been chosen to win the victory because they lapped water as dogs do, unless some great mystery were signified. Good dogs watch and bark to protect their house and their master, their flock and their shepherd. Finally, even here in the praises offered by the church, when a selection is made from this prophecy, it is the tongue of dogs that is mentioned, not their teeth.
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…
Gideon — Called also Jerubbaal (Judg. 6:29, 32), was the first of the judges whose history is circumstantially narrated (Judg. 6-8). His calling is the commencement of the second period in the history of the…
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 Of Israel, The · Men selected from, for difficult enterprises — Men selected from, for difficult enterprises
Dog (Sodomite?) · .Lapping of — .Lapping of
Dog, The · Manner of, in drinking alluded to — Manner of, in drinking alluded to
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).
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…
Anyone who laps with his tongue, etc. Anyone who bends forward while on his knees to drink, set them aside, out of your retinue. They shall not accompany you, since they are practiced in kneeling before idols.3Both phrases of this passage—“Anyone who laps, etc.” and “anyone who bends forward, etc.”—refer to the same drinkers. Those who bend forward while on their knees, bringing their faces down to the water in order to lap it up, are practiced in prostrating themselves before idols.
