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 Bnei-Yisrael did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, so Adonai gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. 2Midian maintained an upper hand over Israel, and because of Midian Bnei-Yisrael made themselves hideouts in the mountains—caves and strongholds. Whenever Israel had done their sowing, the Midianites, Amalekites and people from the east would come up and raid them. 4They would set up camp by them, destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza, and leave nothing in Israel to live on—not a sheep, ox or donkey. 5For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, invade like a multitude of locusts. Both they and their camels were innumerable, and they would come to 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

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

Cross-references for Judges 6:3

• Leviticus 26:16then I will do the following to you in return. I will appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever that will dim the eyes and cause the soul to pine away. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
• Deuteronomy 28:30“You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house, but you will not dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not put it to use.
• Job 31:8then let me sow and another eat, and let my crops be uprooted.
• Isaiah 65:21They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
• Micah 6:15You will sow but not reap; You will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil, and grapes but not drink wine.
• Judges 3:13So he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, then went and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.
• Judges 6:33Now all the Midianites, the Amalekites and the people of the east gathered together, 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 countless, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
• Judges 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them their armies of about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east—the fallen were 120,000 swordsmen.
• Genesis 29:1Then Jacob lifted up his feet and went to the land of the peoples of the east.
• Job 1:3and his possessions were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys, and a very large household. That 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

• 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