Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 7:4
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people [are] yet [too] many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, [that] of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
4. I will try them ] So elsewhere of Jehovah’s testing the people, Jer 9:7, Isa 48:10, Psa 66:10, a figurative expression taken from the smelting of metals to get rid of impure properties.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Try – The word used for refining metals by separating the dross from the pure ore. They who threw themselves on the ground and drank freely were the more self-indulgent; while they who, remembering the near presence of the enemy, slaked their thirst with moderation, and without being off their guard for an instant, were the true soldiers of the army of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Unto the water; either that which ran from the well of Harod, mentioned Jdg 7:1, or some other brook.
I will try them for thee; because thy proclamation hath not sufficiently tried them; for many who are fearful indeed will put on the face, and desire the opinion of being valiant persons; I will take another course.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. too manyTwo reductionswere ordered, the last by the application of a test which was madeknown to Gideon alone.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said to Gideon, the people are yet too many,…. Though they were but just the number that Barak had with him, when he attacked Sisera’s army and got the victory, which yet was ascribed to God, whose hand was manifestly seen in it; but as these might be supposed to be able men of valour that remained, they were too many for God to have that glory he intended to display in this victory:
bring them down unto the water; from the hill on which they were, to a brook that ran at the bottom of it, perhaps a stream from the fountain or well of Harod, Jud 7:1
and I will try them for thee there, or “purge them” a, as silver is purged from dross, so the word signifies, as Kimchi observes, the righteous from the wicked, as he thinks; who, with others, suppose that by those who bowed on their knees to drink, were such as had been used to bow the knee to Baal, and the rest not, and so one were discerned from the other; but this trial was only for the sake of Gideon, to direct him whom he should take with him, and whom not:
and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go; by the different manner of his men drinking at the water, later related, Gideon knew not who should go with him, and who not, whether they that bowed down to drink, or only lapped the water; this was determined by the mouth of the Lord, as follows but this trial was only for the sake of Gideon, to direct him whom he should take with him, and whom not:
and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go; by the different manner of his men drinking at the water, after related, Gideon knew not who should go with him, and who not, whether they that bowed down to drink, or only lapped the water; this was determined by the mouth of the Lord, as follows.
a “defaecabo”, Drusius; “eliquabo, seu purgabo”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) The people are yet too many.A fresh trial of faith; but small numbers were essential for the method of victory by which God intended that the deliverance should be achieved.
Unto the water.i.e., to the spring of Harod.
I will try them.The LXX. render it (Cod. Vat.), I will purge them, as gold from dross, and this is the literal sense of the word (Isa. 1:25; Isa. 48:10).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Down unto the water That is, the fountain Harod, and the stream that flowed from it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will try (‘separate by refining’) them for you there. And it shall be, that of whom I say to you, this shall go with you, the same shall go with you, and of whoever I say to you, this shall not go with you, the same will not go.” ’
Gideon was told to take them all down to the water’s edge, where Yahweh would separate those who were to go in the first phase from those who were not to go. Notice that Yahweh’s purpose was to ‘test’ them. This was thus a refining process in order to obtain the most useful.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Reader will do well, in reading this scripture, to meditate what he may suppose passed in the mind of Gideon, when, out of thirty-two thousand, ten thousand only remained. And yet even of those ten thousand, the Lord declared them to be too many. Oh! it is sweet, when faith is enabled to see all in God’s Christ, and nothing of human policy, or human strength mingled with it. The prophet felt this, I am persuaded, when he caused the sacrifice which was to be consumed with fire, to be first deeply drenched in water. And so did Paul, when he had learned to glory in his infirmities, that there might be more scope for the display of Jesus’s strength. See 1Ki 18:33-38 ; 2Co 12:9-10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 7:4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people [are] yet [too] many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, [that] of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
Ver. 4. The people are yet too many. ] God is sometimes troubled with too much help, but never with too little. We are sometimes too soon, but he is never too late.
And I will try them for thee there.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
people: Psa 33:16
I will: Gen 22:1, 1Sa 16:7, Job 23:10, Psa 7:9, Psa 66:10, Jer 6:27-30, Mal 3:2, Mal 3:3
Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:6 – for there is no restraint 1Ki 17:9 – widow woman Psa 44:7 – But
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 7:4. The Lord said, The people are yet too many For my purpose, which is so to deliver Israel that it may appear to be by my own act; that so I may have all the glory, and they may be more strongly obliged to serve me. God foresaw that if the Israelites had fought against the Midianites, even only with ten thousand men, they would have attributed victory to their own strength and courage; they were therefore reduced to three hundred only, that there might not be the least room left for thinking that their own hand had saved them. Bring them down unto the water Either that which ran from the well of Harod, mentioned Jdg 7:1, or some other brook.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7:4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people [are] yet [too] many; bring them down unto the water, and I will {b} try them for thee there: and it shall be, [that] of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
(b) I will give you a proof to know those who will go with you.