New King James Version
Judges 6:3
3So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
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 Living Translation (NLT)Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel,
Context of Judges 6:3
1Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5For 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.
Read all of Judges 6Judges 6:3 word by word
וְהָיָ֖ה אִם־זָרַ֣ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְעָלָ֨ה מִדְיָ֧ן וַֽעֲמָלֵ֛ק וּבְנֵי־קֶ֖דֶם וְעָל֥וּ עָלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- it was, when Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- had sownזָרַעzâra‛ · to sowH2232
- that the Midianitesמִדְיָןmidyân · MidianH4080
- came upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- and the Amalekitesעֲמָלֵק‛ămâlêq · AmalekH6002
- and the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of the eastקֶ֫דֶםqedem qêdmâh · EastH6924
People and places in Judges 6:3
Cross-references for Judges 6:3
- Leviticus 26:16I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
- Deuteronomy 28:30“You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes.
- Job 31:8Then let me sow, and another eat; Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.
- Isaiah 65:21They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- Micah 6:15“You shall sow, but not reap; You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
- Judges 3:13Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms.
- Judges 6:33Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
- Judges 7:12Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
- Judges 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.
- Genesis 29:1So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.
- 1 Kings 4:30Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt.
- Job 1:3Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people 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
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 King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries