Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 6:13
And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where [be] all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
13. his wondrous works from Egypt ] Cf. Exo 3:20; Exo 34:10, Jos 3:5 J. Tradition, handed down from father to son (Psa 44:1; Psa 78:3), regarded the deliverance from Egypt and the divine interventions during the wanderings as the starting-point and evidence of Jehovah’s special relation to Israel. These words have the appearance of a later insertion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The extreme bitterness of the national sufferings under the Midianite occupation breaks out in Gideons language. The Angels words, suitable to times of prosperity, seemed to be a mockery, when it was evident the Lord was not with them. (Compare Deu 31:17.)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. And Gideon said unto him] This speech is remarkable for its energy and simplicity; it shows indeed a measure of despondency, but not more than the circumstances of the case justified.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
13. if the Lord be with us, why thenis all this befallen us?Gideon’s language betrays want ofreflection, for the very chastisements God had brought on His peopleshowed His presence with, and His interest in, them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Gideon said to him, oh my Lord,…. Taking him not to be an angel, but some illustrious and eminent person:
if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? all these troubles and calamities through the oppression of the Midianites; for he understood what was said to him in the salutation, respecting not himself personally and privately, but the people of Israel; and he could not tell how to reconcile the Lord’s being with them, and yet suffering such sad things to befall them they groaned under:
where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? when God was with his people, and brought them out of Egypt, he wrought miracles for them, whereby they were delivered out of their bondage; of this their fathers had assured them, but nothing of this kind was wrought for them now, and therefore there was no appearance of the Lord being with them, but all the contrary, as follows:
but now the Lord has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of the Midianites; and there was good reason for it, because they had forsaken the Lord, and worshipped the gods of the Amorites.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) Oh my Lord.The title is here only one of courtesy (adoni, like kurie; sir in Joh. 20:19, &c.),for Gideon only saw in the angel a stranger seated beneath the terebinth which overshadowed the rock-hewn wine-vat in which he was working.
Why then is all this befallen us?See Deu. 31:17 : Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? The words all this sound like an echo of Gideons gloomy thoughtsthe thoughts of his country and his brothers, which had been darkening his soul amid his hard toil. A mighty indication of Gods favour to me that I am forced to use this wine-press instead of a threshing-floor (Jos.).
Where be all his miracles?See Psa. 78:12; Psa. 89:49.
The Lord hath forsaken us.See Psa. 13:1; 2Ch. 15:2 : If ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘ And Gideon said to him, “Oh my lord, if Yahweh be with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful works which our fathers told us of, saying, did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt. But now Yahweh has cast us off and delivered us into the hand of Midian ” ’
He was not sure to whom he was talking, but he sensed from his words that he was somehow from Yahweh. So he challenged Him as to why, if Yahweh was with him, they were in this state. Why had these troubles befallen them? Why had Yahweh not done something about it before? Those who still clung to the covenant were constantly being told by their fathers of what Yahweh had done for them in the past, when He had brought them out of Egypt (Exo 13:8; Deu 6:20 on). They had heard it so often. But that was just a recounting of history. Where was His powerful activity now? For seven long years they had suffered abominably but He had done nothing.
“But now Yahweh has cast us off and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” As so often with human beings it was expressed as God’s fault and not theirs. Yet in his heart he must have had a good idea of the answer to his own question, and his words were probably an attempt to obtain confirmation that they had not fully been cast off. That there was still hope. Their past history was based on God’s continued goodness and their own failure, and God’s response when they repented. Would He do it again?
He must have known that they had grown complacent. That they had been ‘cast off’ because of their faithlessness. And that could only be because they had failed to fulfil their part in the covenant, their true response to God had atrophied. The worship of Baal was now rampant. Who knew that better than him with the altar of Baal on his father’s land? That alone could explain why Midian, whom Yahweh had told them to destroy, were instead destroying them. But as it was Yahweh Who had cast them off how then could He be with him?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 6:13. And Gideon said, &c. There is rarely a faith so strong as to preserve and nourish hope under a lasting and powerful calamity. Great oppression and misery dazzle the eyes, and corrupt the memory, that it cannot call to mind what has been done in the like cases. It gave Gideon courage rather to expostulate with the angel, than to believe him, that the Lord would be with him: Oh my Lord, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jdg 6:13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where [be] all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
Ver. 13. Why then is all this befallen us? ] As if that could not be, and they in durance. But we must frame a new Bible, saith one, ere we can find any colour out of God’s afflicting us, to prove that he doth not love us, and hath forsaken us. Non deserit etiamsi deserat, saith a father.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
my Lord = Adonai. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
if the Lord: Gen 25:22, Exo 33:14-16, Num 14:14, Num 14:15, Rom 8:31
why then: Deu 29:24, Deu 30:17, Deu 30:18, Psa 77:7-9, Psa 89:49, Isa 59:1, Isa 59:2, Isa 63:15
our fathers: Psa 44:1, Psa 78:3, Psa 78:4
forsaken us: Deu 31:17, 2Ch 15:2, Psa 27:9, Isa 41:17, Jer 23:33
Reciprocal: Num 23:21 – the Lord Deu 7:18 – remember Deu 32:7 – ask Jos 3:10 – among Jdg 1:19 – the Lord 2Ki 2:14 – Where is Job 9:16 – would I Job 29:5 – the Almighty Ecc 7:10 – What Isa 51:9 – as in Jer 2:6 – Where Dan 10:16 – my Lord Luk 1:29 – what
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 6:13. If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? All this trouble and distress from the incursions of the Midianites? All this loss, and grief, and dismay? Where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of? We are too apt to conclude, that those instances of Gods power which have not been exerted for a long time will never be renewed. Gideon seems here to have given way to this common weakness of our nature and tendency to unbelief and distrust of Gods power, and love, and faithfulness. And we frequently find the prophets expostulating with the people for thinking that the hand of the Lord was shortened, or that he could not exert the same wonderful power, producing the same glorious effects for them which he had formerly exerted and produced for their fathers. The angel had spoken to him in particular, The Lord is with THEE: but he pleads and expostulates for all, If the Lord be with US Associating himself with the thousands of Israel, and admitting no comfort but what they might be sharers in. Gideon does not seem yet to have had any idea that the person that spoke to him was an angel or heavenly being; but appears to have taken him only for some respectable person, or at most a prophet, for the expression, my Lord, with which he addresses him, was no more than was generally used toward persons of respectability.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:13 And Gideon said unto him, {d} Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where [be] all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
(d) This came not from distrust, but from weakness of faith, which is in the most perfect: for no man in this life can have a perfect faith: yet the children of God have a true faith, by which they are justified.