Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 6:5
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.
5. as locusts ] Repeated in Jdg 7:12; for the comparison see Jer 46:23. The text of Jdg 6:3-5 shews signs of a mixed origin. Thus the grammar is irregular, frequentative tenses in Jdg 6:3 are followed by narrative aorists in Jdg 6:4, and these again by frequentatives in Jdg 6:5. Notice the repetition of came up in Jdg 6:3 and came into in Jdg 6:5; the Amalekites, and the children of the east is due to the same hand as Jdg 6:33 and Jdg 7:12; till thou come to Gaza has the look of an editorial exaggeration. Perhaps in their simplest form the verses may have run: “(3) And it used to happen that when Israel had sown, Midian used to come up against him, (4) and they used to leave no sustenance nor ass, (5) for they and their cattle used to come up, and their tents, and come into the land to destroy it.” This may have formed the introduction to the earlier of the two narratives which are combined in 6 8; and the remaining sentences may have been derived from the introduction to the later of the two narratives (Moore, Nowack, Lagrange), or they may be merely glosses (Budde). The whole passage has been pieced together by the Dtc. editor.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Grasshoppers – Rather locusts (compare Exo 10:4-6, Exo 10:14-15; Joel 1; 2; Psa 78:46)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. They 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Without number, i.e. so many that it was not easy to number them. It is an hyperbole.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
For they came up with their cattle, and their tents,…. Brought their flocks and their herds with them, to eat up the increase of the earth, and their tents, which they pitched and removed from place to place, for the convenience of feeding their cattle, and while they cut down the fruit of the earth everywhere, which serves to confirm the sense of the Targum and Vulgate Latin version of Jud 6:5
and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; or “as locusts” c, they were like them for their number, and for devouring all they came to:
and their camels were without number; which they brought with them, to load and carry off their plunder they could not eat. Midian was a place famous for camels and dromedaries, Isa 60:6 and so Arabia, the people of which joined the Midianites in this expedition; of whom Leo Africanus says d, that they reckon of their riches and possessions by their camels; wherefore if anyone speaks of the riches of such a prince or nobleman, he says that he is possessed of so many camels, and not of so many thousands of pieces of gold, see Job 1:3
and they entered into the city to destroy it; this was their sole view. In suchlike manner as this did Alyattes king of the Lydians make war with the Milesinns, as Herodotus e relates; which passage Grotius has quoted at large.
c “tanquam locustae”, Pagninus, V. L. Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. d Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 745. e Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) As grasshoppers.See Jdg. 7:12. Rather, as locusts. The magnificent imagery of Joe. 2:2-11 enables us to realise the force of the metaphor, and Exo. 10:4-6 the number of locusts, which are a common metaphor for countless hordes. Aristophanes (Ach. 150) speaks of an army so numerous that the Athenians will cry out, What a mass of locusts is coming! The Bedouin call the locusts Gurrud Allah, Host of God (Wetzstein, Hauran, p. 138).
Their camels.These were very uncommon in Palestine, and were brought by the invaders from the Eastern deserts.
Without number.This is Oriental hyperbole. When Burckhardt asked a Bedouin, who belonged to a tribe of 300 tents, how many brothers he had, he flung a handful of sand into the air, and replied, Equally numberless (Cassel).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. As grasshoppers Or locusts, a specimen of whose desolating and all-devouring march is depicted in Joe 1:4; Joe 2:1-11. They come in such numbers as to darken all the land, and speedily consume every green thing.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ For they came up with their cattle, and their tents, they came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number. And they came in to the land to destroy it.’
They were there as numerous and as devastating as locusts (see Deu 28:31; Deu 28:38. This was to be part of the curse on those who disobeyed God’s laws). Their cattle ate the growing crops before they then destroyed them, and they burned everything that they found. Their approach was swift and silent on camels, and there were so many that they could not be counted. This is the first mention anywhere of the wide-scale use of camels in warfare, although camels had been domesticated in a small way for centuries. The sole purpose of the invaders was loot and destruction.
Jdg 6:6 a
‘And Israel were brought very low because of Midian.’
Low in produce, low in possessions, low in cattle and sheep, low in supplies, low in spirits. They were down to rock bottom. For the use of ‘Israel’ here before a passive verb see introduction.
Jdg 6:6 b
‘And the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.’
Recognising at last their folly in treating Yahweh lightly, they once again gathered at the central sanctuary, renewed the covenant, ensured their sacrificial system was working properly, turned from Baal and Asherah, and began to walk in accordance with the law of God. This was all involved in ‘crying to Yahweh’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 6:5 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.
Ver. 5. And they came as grasshoppers. ] Innumerable and devoratory. See Jdg 6:4 Joe 2:25
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
grasshoppers = locusts.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
tents: Son 1:5, Isa 13:20
as grasshoppers: Jdg 7:12, Jdg 8:10, Jer 46:23
their camels: Jdg 8:21, 1Sa 30:17, Isa 60:6, Jer 49:29, Jer 49:32
to destroy: Psa 83:4-12
Reciprocal: Gen 13:16 – General Gen 41:49 – General 1Ki 20:27 – like two 2Ch 12:3 – without number Job 1:3 – seven Psa 106:43 – brought low Jer 51:14 – as with Jer 51:27 – cause