Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 6:16
And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
16. Surely I will be with thee ] The same words as in Exo 3:12 E. The LXX reads ‘And the Angel of the Lord said unto him, The Lord will be with thee’; hence Moore and Budde emend ‘and he said, Jehovah will be with thee.’ If the text be allowed to stand, we must suppose that the narrator is thinking of the reader, who knows the secret, rather than of Gideon, who is still in ignorance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 16. Thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.] Thou shalt as surely conquer all their host as if thou hadst but one man to contend with; or, Thou shalt destroy them to a man.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As easily as if they were all but one man; or, thou shalt destroy them to a man, as he did, Jdg 8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the Lord said unto him, surely I will be with thee,…. The Targum is,
“my Word shall be thy help,”
which was sufficient to answer all objections taken from his meanness, unworthiness, and weakness:
and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man; all together, and as easily as if thou hadst but one man to deal with, and the destruction be so entire and general that none shall be left.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16) I will be with thee.See Exo. 3:12; Jos. 1:5.
Smite the Midianites as one man.See Chap
19 1:8; Num. 14:15.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. As one man As if all the Midianitish host was a single individual, and he were executed at a stroke.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Yahweh said to him, “I will surely be with you, and you will smite the Midianites as one man.” ’
God’s reply was that Gideon should consider the odds. He would be there with him. Thus it would be Gideon and Yahweh against Midian, ‘two’ against ‘one’, ‘one God and one man’ against ‘one man’. And He assured him that His presence with Gideon was guaranteed. The men of Midian and Amalek and of the East may seem numberless, but to Yahweh they were merely ‘as one man’. And one of His blows would be sufficient to dispense with them all. Thus Gideon’s status was irrelevant.
“I will be with you.” Compare Exo 3:12, where the evidence that Yahweh was with Moses would be found in the acceptance of his worship ‘on this mountain’ (compare also Jos 1:5). Thus Yahweh would be with him as ‘the I am’, the One Who was always there. Gideon then seizes on this to ask a similar sign, let Yahweh accept his offering and reveal Himself in fire again as he had to Moses.
“And Yahweh said to him.” As so often the Angel of Yahweh becomes Yahweh Himself speaking to man. The Angel is Yahweh’s presence in veiled form (Jdg 6:22), although intercommunication between the Angel and Yahweh is sometimes revealed (Zec 1:13).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Reader! do not overlook the gracious condescension of Jesus to the fears and doubts of his people, while you are reading this verse. It is thus, depend upon it, he deals with them all. Mat 12:20 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 6:16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
Ver. 16. Surely I will be with thee. ] I who, of myself, am a whole army. Isa 52:12
As one man.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will be With thee. Compare Exo 3:12. Isa 7:14. Mat 1:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jdg 6:12, Exo 3:12, Jos 1:5, Isa 41:10, Isa 41:14-16, Mat 28:20, Mar 16:20, Act 11:21
Reciprocal: Gen 16:10 – the angel Gen 28:15 – I am Num 14:15 – General 2Ki 3:19 – And ye
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 6:16-17. Thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man As easily as if they were all but one man. Show me a sign This Gideon desired, that he might be sure the commission was divine, and that God, who called him to his work, would give him success in it. This is one proof among many others which might be produced, that a sign or miracle was esteemed in those days both as a necessary and a sufficient evidence of a divine commission. And from hence we may learn that we have abundant reason to be satisfied and assured respecting the ground of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, inasmuch as he was most abundantly approved of God, by signs, and miracles, and wonders, which God wrought by him, in the sight of all men. That thou talkest with me By authority from God: or, that thou art a messenger from him, that discoursest with me. Or, a sign of the accomplishment of that, concerning which thou talkest with me; that is, that by me thou wilt smite the Midianites.