Judges 6:3

Judges 6:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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;
• New International Version (NIV)Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.

Context of Judges 6:3

1Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. 2The [powerful] hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens (hideouts) which were in the mountains, and the caves and the [mountain] strongholds. For it was whenever Israel had sown [their seed] that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the people of the east and go up against them. 4So they would camp against them and destroy the crops of the land as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, and they would come in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were innumerable. So they came into the land to devastate it.

Judges 6:3 word by word

וְהָיָ֖ה אִם־זָרַ֣ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְעָלָ֨ה מִדְיָ֧ן וַֽעֲמָלֵ֛ק וּבְנֵי־קֶ֖דֶם וְעָל֥וּ עָלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• it was, when Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• had sownזָרַעzâra‛ · to sowH2232
• that the Midianitesמִדְיָןmidyân · MidianH4080
• came upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• and the Amalekitesעֲמָלֵק‛ămâlêq · AmalekH6002
• and the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of the eastקֶ֫דֶםqedem qêdmâh · EastH6924

Cross-references for Judges 6:3

• Leviticus 26:16I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to languish also. And you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat what you plant.
• Deuteronomy 28:30You will be pledged to marry a wife, but another man will be intimate with her [before you]; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.
• Job 31:8Then let me plant and [let] another eat [from the results of my labor], And let my crops be uprooted and ruined.
• Isaiah 65:21They will build houses and live in them; They will plant vineyards and eat the fruit.
• Micah 6:15You shall sow but you shall not reap; You shall tread olives, but shall not anoint yourself with oil, And [you will extract juice from] the grapes, but you shall not drink the wine.
• Judges 3:13And Eglon gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and went and struck down Israel [in defeat], and they took possession of the City of Palm Trees (Jericho).
• Judges 6:33Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over [the Jordan] and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
• Judges 7:12Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying [camped] in the valley, as countless as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
• Judges 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand [fighting] men, all who were left of the entire army of the sons of the east; for a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.
• Genesis 29:1Then Jacob went on his way and came to the land of the people of the East [near Haran].
• 1 Kings 4:30Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
• Job 1:3He also possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke (pairs) of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great number of servants, so that this man was the greatest [and wealthiest and most respected] of all the men of the east (northern Arabia).

Commentaries on Judges 6:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Children of the East - Probably those who inhabited Arabia Deserta, Ishmaelites.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-6After forty years of peace, religious blending caused political instability, and roaming nomads forced the Israelites to live as fugitives. The Midianites, once thought to be purely nomadic and based in northwest Arabia, are now known to have built cities and, for a time, controlled much of the Arabian Peninsula and southern Transjordan (the area east of the Jordan). They are joined by the Amalekites (who were earlier part of a Moabite coalition; see…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-61. and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian--Untaught by their former experiences, the Israelites again apostatized, and new sins were followed by fresh judgments. Midian had sustained a severe blow in the time of Moses (Nu 31:1-18); and the memory of that disaster, no doubt, inflamed their resentment against the Israelites. They were wandering herdsmen, called "children of the East," from their occupying the territory east of the Red Sea…Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of the East
• Abraham
• Amalekite
• Den
• East, Children of the
• Gideon
• God

Commentaries on Judges 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings