New English Translation
Judges 6:15
15Gideon said to him, “But Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.”
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
13Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 14Then the Lord himself turned to him and said, “You have the strength. Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! Have I not sent you?” Gideon said to him, “But Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” 16The Lord said to him, “Ah, but I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” 17Gideon said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, then give me a sign as proof that it is really you speaking 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
Words taken from the KJV.
- 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
Cross-references for Judges 6:15
- Exodus 3:11Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
- Exodus 4:10Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
- Jeremiah 1:6I answered, “Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young.”
- Luke 1:34Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
- Exodus 18:21But you choose from the people capable men, God-fearing, men of truth, those who hate bribes, and put them over the people as rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
- 1 Samuel 9:21Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and is not my family clan the smallest of all the tribes of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me in this way?”
- 1 Samuel 18:23So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”
- Micah 5:2(5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah – from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.
- Genesis 32:10I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
- Jeremiah 50:45So listen to what I, the Lord, have planned against Babylon, what I intend to do to the people who inhabit the land of Babylonia. Their little ones will be dragged off. I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.
- 1 Corinthians 15:9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
- Ephesians 3:8To me – less than the least of all the saints – this grace was given, to proclaim 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
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
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