Bible Strands
Judges 7:14
His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Gideon’s companion speaks to a Midianite dreamer at the edge of the enemy camp, just as Gideon prepares to descend. The companion identifies the tumbling loaf in the dream as Gideon’s sword and declares that God has delivered the Midianite camp into his hand.
The words — אֵין־זֹאת בִּלְתִּי אִם־חֶרֶב (’ên-zôṯ biltî ’im-ḥereḇ) literally translates “nothing except a sword,” pinning the dream’s meaning on a specific weapon.
The thread — The declaration that God has delivered the camp mirrors the pattern of enemy fear falling on hostile nations in Joshua 2:9, Exodus 15:14, and 2 Kings 7:6.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledging that divine intervention, not human strength, determines military outcomes. It demands that readers trust God’s declared deliverance before acting.
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 his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
Cross-references
- Joshua 2:9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.
- 2 Kings 7:6 For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”
- Exodus 15:14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
- Numbers 22:38 “See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”
- Numbers 23:5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- Numbers 23:20 I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.
- Numbers 24:10 Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times.
- Joshua 2:24 “The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
- Joshua 5:1 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.
- Job 1:10 Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.