New Living Translation
Judges 6:5
5These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare.
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, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, 4camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. 6So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. 7When they cried out to the Lord 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 13:20Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.
- Judges 7:12The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!
- Judges 8:10By this time Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with about 15,000 warriors—all that remained of the allied armies of the east, for 120,000 had already been killed.
- Jeremiah 46:23They will cut down her people like trees,” says the Lord, “for they are more numerous than locusts.
- Judges 8:21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Be a man! Kill us yourself!” So Gideon killed them both and took the royal ornaments from the necks of their camels.
- 1 Samuel 30:17David and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them throughout that night and the entire next day until evening. None of the Amalekites escaped except 400 young men who fled on camels.
- Isaiah 60:6Vast caravans of camels will converge on you, the camels of Midian and Ephah. The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense and will come worshiping the Lord.
- Jeremiah 49:29Their flocks and tents will be captured, and their household goods and camels will be taken away. Everywhere shouts of panic will be heard: ‘We are terrorized at every turn!’
- Psalms 83:4“Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”
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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