New American Standard Bible 1995
Judges 6:15
151He said to Him, “O Lord, 2how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in 3Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
Judges 6:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- 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.”
Context of Judges 6:15
13Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.” 17So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me.
Read all of Judges 6Judges 6:15 word by word
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנָ֔י בַּמָּ֥ה אוֹשִׁ֖יעַ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל הִנֵּ֤ה אַלְפִּי֙ הַדַּ֣ל בִּמְנַשֶּׁ֔ה וְאָנֹכִ֥י הַצָּעִ֖יר בְּבֵ֥ית אָבִֽי׃Read the interlinear
- He saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- howמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
- shall I deliverיָשַׁעyâsha‛ · to saveH3467
- Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- Beholdהִנֵּהhinnêh · beholdH2009
- my familyאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousand: clanH505
- Manassehמְנַשֶּׁהmenashsheh · ManassehH4519
- and I am the youngestצָעִירtsâ‛îyr tsâ‛ôr · littleH6810
- in my father’sאָב'âb · fatherH1
- houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
Cross-references for Judges 6:15
- Exodus 3:11But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
- Exodus 4:10Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
- Jeremiah 1:6Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”
- Luke 1:34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
- Exodus 18:21Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.
- 1 Samuel 9:21Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?”
- 1 Samuel 18:23So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David. But David said, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?”
- Micah 5:2But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
- Genesis 32:10I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.
- Jeremiah 50:45Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.
- 1 Corinthians 15:9For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
- Ephesians 3:8To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable 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
In the dictionaries
Notes
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
New American Standard Bible 1995 — © 1960–1995 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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