New English Translation
Judges 6:5
5When they invaded with their cattle and tents, they were as thick as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. They came to devour the land.
Judges 6:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
- New International Version (NIV)They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.
Context of Judges 6:5
3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. 4They invaded the land and devoured its crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, and they took away the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. When they invaded with their cattle and tents, they were as thick as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. They came to devour the land. 6Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. 7When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian,
Read all of Judges 6Judges 6:5 word by word
כִּ֡י הֵם֩ וּמִקְנֵיהֶ֨ם יַעֲל֜וּ וְאָהֳלֵיהֶ֗ם וּבָ֤אוּ כְדֵֽי־אַרְבֶּה֙ לָרֹ֔ב וְלָהֶ֥ם וְלִגְמַלֵּיהֶ֖ם אֵ֣ין מִסְפָּ֑ר וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ בָאָ֖רֶץ לְשַׁחֲתָֽהּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For they came upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- with their cattleמִקְנֶהmiqneh · livestockH4735
- and their tentsאֹ֫הֶל'ôhel · tentH168
- and they cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- asדַּיday · sufficiencyH1767
- grasshoppersאַרְבֶּה'arbeh · locustH697
- for multitudeרֹבrôb · abundanceH7230
- both they and their camelsגָּמָלgâmâl · camelH1581
- were without numberמִסְפָּרmispâr · numberH4557
- into the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- to destroyשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
Cross-references for Judges 6:5
- Isaiah 13:20No one will live there again; no one will ever reside there again. No bedouin will camp there, no shepherds will rest their flocks there.
- Judges 7:12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.
- Judges 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed.
- Jeremiah 46:23The population of Egypt is like a vast, impenetrable forest. But I, the Lord, affirm that the enemy will cut them down. For those who chop them down will be more numerous than locusts. They will be too numerous to count.
- Judges 8:21Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.
- 1 Samuel 30:17But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels.
- Isaiah 60:6Camel caravans will cover your roads, young camels from Midian and Ephah. All the merchants of Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense and singing praises to the Lord.
- Jeremiah 49:29Their tents and their flocks will be taken away. Their tent curtains, equipment, and camels will be carried off. People will shout to them, ‘Terror is all around you!’”
- Psalms 83:4They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
Commentaries on Judges 6:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5They came up with their cattle and their tents - All this proves that they were different tribes of wanderers who had no fixed residence; but, like their descendants the Bedouins or wandering Arabs, removed from place to place to get prey for themselves and forage for their cattle.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Grasshoppers - Rather locusts (compare Exodus 10:4-6, Exodus 10:14-15; Psalm 78:46)Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Camels, known since around 3000 BC, are often linked to eastern nomads and their raids. This might be one of the earliest records of camels in a large military force.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
Topics related to Judges 6:5
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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