Bible Strands

Judges 6:25

On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — On that very night, the LORD commands Gideon to destroy his father’s altar to Baal and cut down the adjacent Asherah pole. The instruction follows Gideon’s construction of an altar to Yahweh in Ophrah.

The words — The Hebrew verb קַח (kach) means “take,” and the phrase בַּלַּיְלָה הַהּוּא (ba-laylah ha-hu) translates to “on that very night.” These terms anchor the command to a specific, immediate divine initiative.

The thread — The directive to dismantle foreign altars and Asherah poles parallels the command in Exodus 34:13, while the backdrop of idolatrous worship matches the Israelite sin described in Judges 3:7. The theological tension between exclusive devotion and syncretism resurfaces in 2 Corinthians 6:15.

Why it lands — The text requires the immediate removal of inherited pagan worship infrastructure before establishing exclusive covenant practice. Readers must confront the necessity of dismantling competing loyalties before true worship can proceed.

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

וַיְהִי֮va/y.Hiand/ it wasבַּלַּ֣יְלָהba./Lay.lahin the/ nightהַהוּא֒ha./Hu'<the>/ thatוַיֹּ֧אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he saidל֣וֹl/oto <the>/ himיְהוָ֗הYah.wehYahwehקַ֤חkachtakeאֶת־'et-<obj.>פַּר־par-[the] young bull ofהַשּׁוֹר֙ha./shOrthe/ oxאֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhichלְאָבִ֔יךָle./'a.Vi./kha[belongs] to/ father/ yourוּפַ֥רu./Farand/ [the] young bullהַשֵּׁנִ֖יha./she.Nithe/ secondשֶׁ֣בַעShe.va'sevenשָׁנִ֑יםsha.Nimyearsוְהָרַסְתָּ֗ve./ha.ras.Taand/ you will tear downאֶת־'et-<obj.>מִזְבַּ֤חmiz.Bach[the] altar ofהַבַּ֙עַל֙ha./Ba.'al<the>/ Baalאֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhichלְאָבִ֔יךָle./'a.Vi./kha[belongs] to/ father/ yourוְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>הָאֲשֵׁרָ֥הha./'a.she.Rahthe/ Asherah poleאֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-whichעָלָ֖יו'a.La/v[is] at/ itתִּכְרֹֽת׃tikh.Rotyou will cut down

King James Version

And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:

Cross-references