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 sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord handed them over to Midian for seven years. 2The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. For whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the people of the east and march against them. 4So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor a sheep, ox, or donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts in number, and both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to ruin it.

Judges 6:3 word by word

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

• For wheneverהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• For wheneverאִם'im · ifH518
• Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• had sownזָרַעzâra‛ · to sowH2232
• the Midianitesמִדְיָןmidyân · MidianH4080
• would comeעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• with the Amalekitesעֲמָלֵק‛ămâlêq · AmalekH6002
• peopleבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of the eastקֶ֫דֶםqedem qêdmâh · EastH6924
• againstעַל‛al · uponH5921

Cross-references for Judges 6:3

• Leviticus 26:16I, in turn, will do this to you: I will summon a sudden terror against you, consumption and fever that will make the eyes fail and the soul languish; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it.
• Deuteronomy 28:30You will betroth a woman, but another man will violate her; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not make use of its fruit.
• Job 31:8Let me sow and another eat, And let my crops be uprooted.
• Isaiah 65:21They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
• Micah 6:15You will sow but you will not harvest. You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil; And tread out sweet wine, but you will not drink any wine.
• Judges 3:13And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of the palm trees.
• Judges 6:33Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
• Judges 7:12Now the Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the people of the east were lying in the valley as numerous 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, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of the entire army of the people of the east; for the fallen were 120,000 swordsmen.
• Genesis 29:1Then Jacob set out on his journey, and went to the land of the people of the east.
• 1 Kings 4:30Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
• Job 1:3His possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

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
• Children of the East
• Abraham
• Amalekite
• Den
• East, Children of the
• Gideon
• God
• Jezreel, Valley of
• Midianite

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