AbaGwebi 6:15

Izhibhalo Ezingcwele

15 Wathi yena kuye, Camagu, Nkosi yam, ndowasindisa ngantoni na amaSirayeli? Khangela, umzi wakowethu ngowona uphantsi kwaManase, nam ndinguyena mncinane endlwini kabawo.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wherewith: Exodus 3:11, Exodus 4:10, Jeremiah 1:6, Luke 1:34

my family is poor: Heb. my thousand is the meanest, Exodus 18:21-25, 1 Samuel 9:21, 1 Samuel 18:23, Micah 5:2

the least: Genesis 32:10, Jeremiah 50:45, 1 Corinthians 15:9, Ephesians 3:8

Reciprocal: Numbers 1:16 - the renowned Judges 7:13 - a cake 1 Samuel 15:17 - When thou 2 Samuel 7:18 - Who am I 1 Chronicles 17:16 - what is Daniel 10:16 - my Lord

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said unto him, oh my Lord,.... Whether he had yet suspected who he was, or took him still for some eminent person, is not certain; it is very probable he began to think he was some extraordinary person sent of God, and speaking in his name, and therefore expostulates with him about the work he put him upon:

wherewith shall I save Israel? in what way is it possible for me to do it, who had neither men nor money sufficient for such an undertaking?

behold, my family is poor in Manasseh; of which tribe he was, and the "thousand" in it, as the word l here used signifies, was the meanest of all the thousands in that tribe; some render it, "my father" m:

and I am the least in my father's house; perhaps the youngest son; though some take him, and others his father, to be the Chiliarch, or head of the thousand; but by these words of his it does not seem as if either was true; not but that he was of some wealth and substance, power and authority, by having such a number of servants as to take "ten" of them with him, Judges 6:27 however, this he says in great humility and modesty, having no high thoughts of himself and family, nor any dependence on his own strength, and on an arm of flesh.

l אלפי "chilias, mea", Montanus, Drusius; "mea millenaria", Tigurine version; "mille meum", Piscator. m "Pater meus", Pagninus; so some in Drusius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Gideon now perceived that the Lord was speaking to him by His angel. He saw, however, no qualifications in himself, or in his family or tribe, for the office of saviour to his people. He therefore desires some assurance that the message he had just received was indeed from God, and not a mere dream or delusion. He asks as a sign Judges 6:18 that his mysterious visitor should tarry under the oak until he should return to Him with his gifts and offerings.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 6:15. Wherewith shall I save Israel? — I have neither men nor money.

Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh — הנה אלפי הדל, Behold, my thousand is impoverished. Tribes were anciently divided into tens, and fifties, and hundreds, and thousands; the thousands therefore marked grand divisions, and consequently numerous families; Gideon here intimates that the families of which he made a part were very much diminished. But if we take אלפי alpey for the contracted form of the plural, which is frequently in Hebrew nouns joined with a verb in the singular, then the translation will be, "The thousands in Manasseh are thinned;" i.e., this tribe is greatly reduced, and can do little against their enemies.