Judges 6 · Verse 11

Judges 6:11

And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi–ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
Judges 6:11, King James Version

Judges 6:11 in other translations

BSBThen the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
WEBThe LORD’s angel came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.
ASVAnd the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
YLTAnd the messenger of Jehovah cometh and sitteth under the oak which is in Ophrah, which is to Joash the Abi-Ezrite, and Gideon his son is beating out wheat in the wine-press, to remove it from the presence of the Midianites;
DARBYAnd an angel of Jehovah came and sat under the terebinth that was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abi-ezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, to secure it from the Midianites.
BBENow the angel of the Lord came and took his seat under the oak-tree in Ophrah, in the field of Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was crushing grain in the place where the grapes were crushed, so that the Midianites might not see it.
WebsterAnd there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon thrashed wheat by the wine-press, to hide it from the Midianites.

What does Judges 6:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Jud 6:11-16. An Angel Sends Gideon to Deliver Them.

11. there came an angel of the Lord--He appeared in the character and equipments of a traveller (Jud 6:21), who sat down in the shade to enjoy a little refreshment and repose. Entering into conversation on the engrossing topic of the times, the grievous oppression of the Midianites, he began urging Gideon to exert his well-known prowess on behalf of his country. Gideon, in replying, addresses him at first in a style equivalent (in Hebrew) to "sir," but afterwards gives to him the name usually applied to God. an oak--Hebrew, "the oak"--as famous in after-times. Ophrah--a city in the tribe of Manasseh, about sixteen miles north of Jericho, in the district belonging to the family of Abiezer (Jos 17:2). his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press--This incident tells emphatically the tale of public distress. The small quantity of grain he was threshing, indicated by his using a flail instead of the customary treading of cattle--the unusual place, near a wine-press, under a tree, and on the bare ground, not a wooden floor, for the prevention of noise--all these circumstances reveal the extreme dread in which the people were living.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 There came an angel of the Lord - The prophet came to teach and exhort, the angel comes to confirm the word of the prophet, to call and commission him who was intended to be their deliverer, and to work miracles, in order to inspire him with supernatural courage and a confidence of success. Ophrah - Or Ephra, was a city, or village rather, in the half tribe of Manasseh, beyond Jordan. His son Gideon threshed wheat - This is not the only instance in which a man taken from agricultural employments was made general of an army, and the deliverer of his country. Shamgar was evidently a ploughman, and with his ox-goad he slew many Philistines, and became one of the deliverers of Israel. Cincinnatus was taken from the plough, and was made dictator and commander-in-chief of the Roman armies. There is a great similarity between his case and that of Gideon. Threshed wheat by the winepress - This was a place of privacy; he could not make a threshing-floor in open day as the custom was, and bring either the wheel over the grain, or tread it out with the feet of the oxen, for fear of the Midianites, who were accustomed to come and take it away as soon as threshed. He got a few sheaves from the field, and brought them home to have them privately threshed for the support of the family. As there could be no vintage among the Israelites in their present distressed circumstances, the winepress would never be suspected by the Midianites to be the place of threshing corn.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Judges 6:11-24
Gideon was a man of a brave, active spirit, yet in obscurity through the times: he is here stirred up to undertake something great. It was very sure that the Lord was with him, when his Angel was with him. Gideon was weak in faith, which made it hard to reconcile the assurances of the presence of God with the distress to which Israel was brought. The Angel answered his objections. He told him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer, there needed no more. Bishop Hall says, While God calls Gideon valiant, he makes him so. God delights to advance the humble. Gideon desires to have his faith confirmed. Now, under the influences of the Spirit, we are not to expect signs before our eyes such as Gideon here desired, but must earnestly pray to God, that if we have found grace in his sight, he would show us a sign in our heart, by the powerful working of his Spirit there, The Angel turned the meat into an offering made by fire; showing that he was not a man who needed meat, but the Son of God, who was to be served and honoured by sacrifice, and who in the fulness of time was to make himself a sacrifice. Hereby a sign was given to Gideon, that he had found grace in God's sight. Ever since man has by sin exposed himself to God's wrath and curse, a message from heaven has been a terror to him, as he scarcely dares to expect good tidings thence. In this world, it is very awful to have any converse with that world of spirits to which we are so much strangers. Gideon's courage failed him. But God spoke peace to him.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Judges 6:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיָּבֹ֞אvai.ya.Vo'and he cameH935
מַלְאַ֣ךְmal.'Akh[the] angel ofH4397
יְהוָ֗הYah.wehYahwehH3068
וַיֵּ֙שֶׁב֙vai.Ye.shevand he satH3427
תַּ֤חַתTa.chatunderH8478
הָֽאֵלָה֙ha.'e.Lahthe oakH424
אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834
בְּעָפְרָ֔הbe.'a.fe.Rah[was] in OphrahH6084
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhichH834
לְיוֹאָ֖שׁle.yo.'Ash[belonged] to JoashH3101
אֲבִ֣י'a.Vi[the] Abi-H33
הָֽעֶזְרִ֑יha.'ez.Ri<the> -ezriteH33
וְגִדְע֣וֹןve.gid.'onand GideonH1439
בְּנ֗וֹbe.Noson hisH1121
חֹבֵ֤טcho.Vet[was] beating outH2251
חִטִּים֙chi.Timwheat<s>H2406
בַּגַּ֔תba.Gatin the winepressH1660
לְהָנִ֖יסle.ha.Nisto hide [it]H5127
מִפְּנֵ֥יmi.pe.Neifrom <the face of>H6440
מִדְיָֽן\׃mid.YanMidianH4080

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Judges 6:11

  • Joshua 17:2

    There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.

  • Hebrews 11:32

    And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

  • Judges 13:3

    And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

  • Judges 8:2

    And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi–ezer?

  • Isaiah 63:9

    In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

  • Genesis 16:7

    And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

  • Judges 6:14-16

    And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

  • Judges 2:1-5

    And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. …

  • Judges 13:18-20

    And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

  • Genesis 48:16

    The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

  • Joshua 18:23

    And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

  • Judges 5:23

    Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
an angel.
14-16; 2:1-5; 5:23; 13:3,18-20; Ge 48:16; Jos 18:23; Isa 63:9
Abi-ezrite.
8:2; Jos 17:2
Gideon.
Heb 11:32
Gedeon. hide it . Heb. cause it to flee.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Judges 6:10

    And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

  • Judges 6:11

    And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi–ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

  • Judges 6:12

    And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

Read all of Judges 6

Judges 6:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y vino el ángel de Jehová, y sentóse debajo del alcornoque que está en Ophra, el cual era de Joas Abiezerita; y su hijo Gedeón estaba sacudiendo el trigo en el lagar, para hacerlo esconder de los Madianitas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et un ange de l’ Éternel vint, et s’assit sous le térébinthe qui est à Ophra, lequel était à Joas, l’Abiézerite. Et Gédéon, son fils, battait du froment dans le pressoir, pour le mettre en sûreté de devant Madian.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und der Engel Jehovas kam und setzte sich unter die Terebinthe, die zu Ophra war, welches Joas, dem Abieseriter, gehörte. Und Gideon, sein Sohn, schlug eben Weizen aus in der Kelter, um ihn vor Midian zu flüchten.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Venit autem angelus Domini, et sedit sub quercu, quæ erat in Ephra, et pertinebat ad Joas patrem familiæ Ezri. Cumque Gedeon filius ejus excuteret atque purgaret frumenta in torculari, ut fugeret Madian,