Judges 6:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in.

NIV: They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.

NASB: For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts in number, and both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to ruin it.

CSB: For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it.

NLT: These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare.

KJV: For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

NKJV: For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.

Over the course of seven years, Israel developed a tragic, traumatic harvest tradition (Judges 6:1–4). About the time the crops would be ready, invading Midianites would come from the east. They would forcibly take whatever food, livestock, and other goods were to be found. This was the material Israel was depending on to survive through another season. This verse compares the invaders to locusts descending on the crops and devouring them. In the same way as swarming insects, enemy forces would descend on fields and leave them bare.

The size of the forces that arrived made the Midianites and their allies irresistible. The number of camels they brought to ride and carry their gear could not even be counted. They would cover the open land with their endless tents full of fighters and harvesters and simply take what they wanted, leaving nothing behind for the hungry people of Israel. The land was laid waste wherever their path took them.

Judges 6:1–10 begins, once again, with Israel's descent into evil (Judges 2:11–14). God turns them over to the Midianites, who invade every year with their allies from the east. These raids take Israelite crops and livestock. God's people cry out for help after seven years. Before sending a deliverer, the Lord first appoints an unnamed prophet to deliver a message. He reminds them that He is the one who freed them from their enemies and gave them their land. They suffer now because they have not obeyed His voice.

Israel follows the sad pattern of the book of Judges, and once again turns to evil and idols. God turns them over to the Midianites. These foreign raiders spend the next seven years invading and consuming Israel's crops and livestock. Israel cries for help to the Lord. His first step is to send a prophet to remind them of God's goodness and their disobedience. The Lord then appears to Gideon, commanding him to save Israel because God will be with him. Gideon obeys God's command to tear down a Baal altar and build one to Yahweh in its place. He calls his countrymen to follow him and asks for signs from God.

The book of Judges contains a series of stories with a common theme: Israel falls into sin, suffers, and is rescued by God, only to fall once again (Judges 1—2). The next phase in Israel's downward spiral comes after 40 years of peace, won by Deborah and Barak (Judges 4—5). Israel is punished for sin through the Midianites. After seven years, the Israelites cry out for help. The Lord appears to Gideon, challenging the timid man to lead the battle against Israel's oppressors. Empowered by the Spirit, Gideon calls for his people to follow him, but still asks the Lord for signs. Gideon's successful campaigns are depicted in chapters 7 and 8.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).