Judges 6:11–24, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 6:11–24
Gideon questions the call at the winepress
The messenger finds a man threshing wheat in a winepress
The angel of the LORD sits under an oak in Ophrah that belongs to Joash the Abiezrite. Gideon his son threshes wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. The messenger says, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. The title names a vocation while Gideon is hiding grain. It does not certify every later choice he will make.
Gideon answers with the question the oppression has raised: if the LORD is with us, why is all this befallen us, and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? Now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of Midian. The lament is not treated as faithless noise.
Commission, fire on the offering, and an altar named Peace
The LORD looks on him and says, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? Gideon objects that his family is poor in Manasseh and he is the least in his father's house. The answer is presence: Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
Gideon prepares a kid and unleavened cakes. Fire from the rock consumes the flesh and broth. He sees he has looked on the angel of the LORD and fears death. The LORD says, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Gideon builds an altar and calls it Jehovah-shalom. The encounter is this man's confirmation, not a method for treating every private impression as a commission, and not a halo over the rest of his life.
How this should shape us
Make room for honest lament about suffering and inadequacy. Confirm a costly calling by more than one dramatic moment, and keep evaluating the person after the altar is named.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 6:11–24 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The identity of the messenger, the relation between verses 11-24 and later sources, and Gideon's tone are debated. His objections and the narrative reassurance are explicit.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 6:11–24, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 6:11–24
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 461-463, translation and notes on 6:11–24
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 142-211
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 6:11–24, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 6:11–24
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 461-463, translation and notes on 6:11–24
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 142-211
Open source ↗doctoral thesis repository record
Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges: An Inductive, Rhetorical Study
Gregory T. K. Wong
University of Edinburgh, 2005
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Exact location: Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Open source ↗