Discovery BoxJudges 6:11 
Context6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger 1 came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon 2 was threshing 3 wheat in a winepress 4 so he could hide it from the Midianites. 5
Judges 6:29
Context6:29 They said to one another, 6 “Who did this?” 7 They investigated the matter thoroughly 8 and concluded 9 that Gideon son of Joash had done it.
1 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
sn The
2 tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.
3 tn Heb “beating out.”
4 sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
5 tn Heb “Midian.”
6 tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”
7 tn Heb “this thing.”
8 tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
9 tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”
