Bible Strands
Judges 6:13
“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Gideon addresses the angel of the Lord immediately after receiving a commission to rescue Israel. He speaks at the precise moment of divine encounter, contrasting the angel's declaration of God's presence with Israel's current subjugation to Midian.
The words — The phrase בִּי אֲדֹנִי (bi adoni) renders "pardon me, my lord," framing Gideon's hesitant inquiry. The clause יְהוָה עִמָּנוּ (Yahweh immanu) literally states "Yahweh is with us," directly quoting the angel's prior assurance while underscoring Gideon's doubt.
The thread — The conflict between promised presence and perceived abandonment appears in Psalms 77:7 and Isaiah 59:1, where the text questions whether God has withdrawn favor or weakened His saving power. This motif reappears in 2 Chronicles 15:2 as a covenantal warning that God's presence shifts according to human fidelity.
Why it lands — The verse records a direct challenge to divine consistency when experience contradicts stated promise. It requires the reader to account for the tension between received assurance and observable reality without smoothing over the doubt.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
Cross-references
- Psalms 77:7 “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?
- 2 Chronicles 15:2 So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
- Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Psalms 44:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
- Genesis 25:22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,
- Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
- Deuteronomy 31:17 On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’
- Psalms 78:3 that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- Psalms 89:49 Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old, which You faithfully swore to David?
- Isaiah 41:17 The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.