Discovery BoxJudges 6:17-24 
Context6:17 Gideon 1 said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, 2 then give me 3 a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me. 6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back 4 with a gift 5 and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”
6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, 6 along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food 7 to him under the oak tree and presented it to him. 6:20 God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, 8 and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. 9 6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. 10 Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. 11
6:22 When Gideon realized 12 that it was the Lord’s messenger, he 13 said, “Oh no! 14 Master, Lord! 15 I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!” 6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! 16 Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!” 6:24 Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.” 17 To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Judges 6:36-40
Context6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, 18 as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. 19 6:37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it 20 is dry, then I will be sure 21 that you will use me to deliver Israel, 22 as you promised.” 6:38 The Lord did as he asked. 23 When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. 24 6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. 25 Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.” 26 6:40 That night God did as he asked. 27 Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
3 tn Heb “perform for me.”
4 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.
6 tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”
7 tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
9 tn Heb “and he did so.”
10 tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”
11 tn Heb “went from his eyes.”
12 tn Heb “saw.”
13 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 tn Or “Ah!”
15 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15],
16 tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
17 tn Heb “The
18 tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”
19 tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
20 tn Heb “all the ground.”
21 tn Or “know.”
22 tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”
23 tn Heb “And it was so.”
24 tn Heb “dew dripped from the fleece – a bowl full of water.”
25 tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”
26 tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”
27 tn Heb “God did so that night.”
