American Standard Version
Judges 7:20
20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.
Judges 7:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
- New International Version (NIV)The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
Context of Judges 7:20
18When I blow the trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For Jehovah and for Gideon. 19So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon. 21And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight. 22And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and Jehovah set every man’s sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
Read all of Judges 7Judges 7:20 word by word
וַֽ֠יִּתְקְעוּ שְׁלֹ֨שֶׁת הָרָאשִׁ֥ים בַּשּֽׁוֹפָרוֹת֮ וַיִּשְׁבְּר֣וּ הַכַּדִּים֒ וַיַּחֲזִ֤יקוּ בְיַד־שְׂמאוֹלָם֙ בַּלַּפִּדִ֔ים וּבְיַ֨ד־יְמִינָ֔ם הַשּׁוֹפָר֖וֹת לִתְק֑וֹעַ וַֽיִּקְרְא֔וּ חֶ֥רֶב לַֽיהוָ֖ה וּלְגִדְעֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear
- threeשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
- companiesרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: groupH7218
- blewתָּקַעtâqa‛ · to blowH8628
- trumpetsשֹׁפָרshôphâr shôphâr · trumpetH7782
- heldחָזַקchâzaq · to strengthen: holdH2388
- torchesלַפִּידlappîyd lappid · torchH3940
- handsיָדyâd · handH3027
- rightיָמִיןyâmîyn · rightH3225
- swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- Gideonגִּדְעוֹןgid‛ôn · GideonH1439
Cross-references for Judges 7:20
- Numbers 10:1And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
- Joshua 6:4And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
- Isaiah 27:13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come that were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
- 1 Corinthians 15:52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
- 2 Corinthians 4:7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;
- Hebrews 11:4By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh.
- 2 Peter 1:15Yea, I will give diligence that at every time ye may be able after my decease to call these things to remembrance.
Commentaries on Judges 7:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers - How astonishing must the effect be, in a dark night, of the sudden glare of three hundred torches, darting their splendor, in the same instant, on the half-awakened eyes of the terrified Midianites, accompanied with the clangour of three hundred trumpets, alternately mingled with the thundering shout of ולגדעון ליהוה חרב chereb layhovah ulegidon, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" Origen, in his ninth homily…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-22Verses 16-22 This method of defeating the Midianites may be alluded to, as exemplifying the destruction of the devil's kingdom in the world, by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the sounding that trumpet, and the holding forth that light out of earthen vessels, for such are the ministers of the gospel, 2Co 4:6, 7. God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, a barley-cake to overthrow the tents of Midian, that the excellency of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-20Surprise and trickery replaced the need for a large army. The war cry, the sudden sound of 300 trumpets, and the torches lighting up made it seem like there was a big army.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-2416-22. he divided the three hundred men into three companies--The object of dividing his forces was, that they might seem to be surrounding the enemy. The pitchers were empty to conceal the torches, and made of earthenware, so as to be easily broken; and the sudden blaze of the held-up lights--the loud echo of the trumpets, and the shouts of Israel, always terrifying (Nu 23:21), and now more terrible than ever by the use of such striking words, broke…Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 7:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 7
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries