Judges 6:15

Judges 6:15 in other versions

• New International Version (NIV)“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

Context of Judges 6:15

13And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 17And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

Judges 6:15 word by word

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנָ֔י בַּמָּ֥ה אוֹשִׁ֖יעַ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל הִנֵּ֤ה אַלְפִּי֙ הַדַּ֣ל בִּמְנַשֶּׁ֔ה וְאָנֹכִ֥י הַצָּעִ֖יר בְּבֵ֥ית אָבִֽי׃Read the interlinear

• And he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto him, Ohבִּיbîy · pleaseH994
• my Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
• wherewithמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• shall I saveיָשַׁעyâsha‛ · to saveH3467
• Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• behold, my familyאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousand: clanH505
• behold, my familyאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · cattleH504
• poorדַּלdal · poorH1800
• in Manassehמְנַשֶּׁהmenashsheh · ManassehH4519
• the leastצָעִירtsâ‛îyr tsâ‛ôr · littleH6810
• in my father’sאָב'âb · fatherH1
• houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004

People and places in Judges 6:15

• Israel
• Manasseh
• LORD

Cross-references for Judges 6:15

• Exodus 3:11And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
• Exodus 4:10And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
• Jeremiah 1:6Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
• Luke 1:34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
• Exodus 18:21Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
• 1 Samuel 9:21And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?
• 1 Samuel 18:23And Saul’s servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?
• Micah 5:2But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
• Genesis 32:10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
• Jeremiah 50:45Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
• 1 Corinthians 15:9For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
• Ephesians 3:8Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

Commentaries on Judges 6:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Wherewith shall I save Israel? - I have neither men nor money. Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh - הדל אלפי הנה , Behold, my thousand is impoverished. Tribes were anciently divided into tens, and fifties, and hundreds, and thousands; the thousands therefore marked grand divisions, and consequently numerous families; Gideon here intimates that the families of which he made a part were very much diminished. But if we take אלפי alpey for the contracted…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Gideon now perceived that the Lord was speaking to him by His angel. He saw, however, no qualifications in himself, or in his family or tribe, for the office of saviour to his people. He therefore desires some assurance that the message he had just received was indeed from God, and not a mere dream or delusion. He asks as a sign Judges 6:18 that his mysterious visitor should tarry under the oak until he should return to Him with his gifts and offerings.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-24Verses 11-24 Gideon was a man of a brave, active spirit, yet in obscurity through the times: he is here stirred up to undertake something great. It was very sure that the Lord was with him, when his Angel was with him. Gideon was weak in faith, which made it hard to reconcile the assurances of the presence of God with the distress to which Israel was brought. The Angel answered his objections. He told him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer, there…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15Gideon's personal and clan status was not enough to gather troops.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1614-16. the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might ... have not I sent thee?--The command and the promise made Gideon aware of the real character of his visitor; and yet like Moses, from a sense of humility, or a shrinking at the magnitude of the undertaking, he excused himself from entering on the enterprise. And even though assured that, with the divine aid, he would overcome the Midianites as easily as if they were but one man, he still…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 6:15

• Angel (a Spirit)
• Call
• Communion
• Doubting
• Excuses
• Faith
• Gideon
• God
• Judge
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Manasseh
• Den
• Gideon
• God
• Midianite
• Mighty
• Sign
• Wherewith
• Wring

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