Judges 6:37 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes

Judges 6:37

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to ^aAsher, ^bZebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—

37 ^alook, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, ^a“Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”

40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Book Notes:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes

Judges

JUDGES is the title given to the next book, from its containing the history of those non-regal rulers who governed the Hebrews from the time of Joshua to that of Eli, and whose functions in time of peace consisted chiefly in the administration of justice, although they occasionally led the people in their wars against their public enemies. The date and authorship of this book are not precisely known. It is certain, however, that it preceded the Second Book of Samuel (compare Judges 9:35 with II Samuel 11:21), as well as the conquest of Jerusalem by David (compare Judges 1:21 with II Samuel 5:6). Its author was in all probability Samuel, the last of the judges (see Judges 19:1; Judges 21:25), and the date of the first part of it is fixed in the reign of Saul, while the five chapters at the close might not have been written till after David's establishment as king in Israel (see Judges 18:31). It is a fragmentary history, being a collection of important facts and signal deliverances at different times and in various parts of the land, during the intermediate period of three hundred years between Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy. The inspired character of this book is confirmed by allusions to it in many passages of Scripture (compare Judges 4:2; Judges 6:14 with I Samuel 12:9-12; Judges 9:53 with II Samuel 11:21; Judges 7:25 with Psalms 83:11; compare Judges 5:4-5 with Psalms 7:5; Judges 13:5; Judges 16:17 with Matthew 2:13-23; Acts 13:20; Hebrews 11:32).