Judges 7:12

Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator describes the allied encampment immediately after Gideon descends to the perimeter to listen to enemy soldiers (Judges 7:11). This observation occurs just before Gideon overhears a dream that confirms the enemy's impending collapse (Judges 7:13).

The words — The Hebrew נֹפְלִים (no.fe.Lim) literally means "were lying" or "were fallen," depicting the forces sprawled across the terrain. The phrase כָּ/אַרְבֶּה (ka./'ar.Beh) translates to "like locusts," stressing the dense, overwhelming number of the allied hosts.

The thread — This imagery of innumerable hosts appears in Judges 6:5, where the Midianites are again compared to locusts, and in Joshua 11:4, where allied kings gather with a multitude like the sand on the seashore. The numerical scale also echoes Judges 8:10, which quantifies the surviving remnant of this same coalition.

Why it lands — The text presents a tactical reality of overwhelming odds to frame the impending confrontation. It requires the reader to acknowledge the scale of the threat before recognizing that the narrative will pivot on divine intervention rather than military advantage.

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

וּמִדְיָ֨ןu./mid.Yanand/ Midian וַעֲמָלֵ֤קva./'a.ma.Lekand/ Amalek וְכָל־ve./kholand/ all בְּנֵי־be.nei-[the] people of קֶ֙דֶם֙ke.dem[the] east נֹפְלִ֣יםno.fe.Lim[were] lying בָּעֵ֔מֶקba./'E.mekin the/ valley כָּאַרְבֶּ֖הka./'ar.Behlike <the>/ locust[s]לָרֹ֑בla./Rofor/ multitude וְלִגְמַלֵּיהֶם֙ve./li/g.ma.lei./Hemand/ [belonged] to/ camels/ their אֵ֣ין'einnot מִסְפָּ֔רmis.Parnumber כַּח֛וֹלka./Chollike the/ sand שֶׁעַל־she./'al-that/ [is] on שְׂפַ֥תse.Fat[the] shore of הַיָּ֖םhai./Yamthe/ sea לָרֹֽב׃la./Rofor/ multitude

King James Version

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

Cross-references

Judges 6:5 For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
Judges 8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.
Joshua 11:4 So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots.
Judges 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
Isaiah 8:9 Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Psalms 3:1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me!
Psalms 33:16 No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
Psalms 118:10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
Judges 6:33 Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
1 Kings 4:30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.