Judges 6:14

And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) The Lord looked upon him.—Here, as in Genesis 18:13; Genesis 18:17; Genesis 18:20, the angel speaks as the Lord, and it has been hence inferred that this angel was no created angel, but “the angel of the covenant,” “the captain of the Lord’s host.” The only other possible conclusion is to say that the angel only speaks as the mouth of God (comp. Revelation 21:15; Revelation 22:6-7). No doubt the expression is here literal, but it involves the sense of favour and acceptance (Psalm 25:6; Vulg., respexit). The look inspired him with fresh force. The reason why the LXX. retain the phrase “the angel of the Lord” throughout is because they had the true Alexandrian dislike for all anthropomorphic expressions—i.e., for all expressions which seemed to them to lower the invisible and unapproachable majesty of the Almighty.

Have not I sent thee?—See 1Samuel 12:11 : “The Lord sent Jerubbaal.”

Benson Commentary

Jdg 6:14. The Lord looked upon him — With a settled, pleasant, and animating countenance, as a testimony of his favour and readiness to help him. And said, Go in this thy might — In the power of this commission which I have now given thee; and in the strength which thou hast already received, and dost now further receive from me. Have not I sent thee? — Have not I hereby given thee a commission, a command to do this work? God’s fitting men for this work is a sure evidence of his calling them to it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:11-24 Gideon was a man of a brave, active spirit, yet in obscurity through the times: he is here stirred up to undertake something great. It was very sure that the Lord was with him, when his Angel was with him. Gideon was weak in faith, which made it hard to reconcile the assurances of the presence of God with the distress to which Israel was brought. The Angel answered his objections. He told him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer, there needed no more. Bishop Hall says, While God calls Gideon valiant, he makes him so. God delights to advance the humble. Gideon desires to have his faith confirmed. Now, under the influences of the Spirit, we are not to expect signs before our eyes such as Gideon here desired, but must earnestly pray to God, that if we have found grace in his sight, he would show us a sign in our heart, by the powerful working of his Spirit there, The Angel turned the meat into an offering made by fire; showing that he was not a man who needed meat, but the Son of God, who was to be served and honoured by sacrifice, and who in the fulness of time was to make himself a sacrifice. Hereby a sign was given to Gideon, that he had found grace in God's sight. Ever since man has by sin exposed himself to God's wrath and curse, a message from heaven has been a terror to him, as he scarcely dares to expect good tidings thence. In this world, it is very awful to have any converse with that world of spirits to which we are so much strangers. Gideon's courage failed him. But God spoke peace to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord looked upon him - That gracious look conferred immediate strength (compare Ephesians 6:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9; John 20:22; Acts 3:6) The change of phrase from "the angel of the Lord" to "the Lord" is remarkable. When messages are delivered by the Angel of the Lord, the form of the message is as if God Himself were speaking (compare Judges 2:1).

The sending implied a valid commission and sufficient powers. Compare Exodus 3:10; Isaiah 44:26; Ezekiel 2:3; Zechariah 2:11; Malachi 3:1; Luke 10:3; John 20:21; and the term APOSTLE, as applied to our Lord Hebrews 3:1 and to the Twelve.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14-16. the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might … have not I sent thee?—The command and the promise made Gideon aware of the real character of his visitor; and yet like Moses, from a sense of humility, or a shrinking at the magnitude of the undertaking, he excused himself from entering on the enterprise. And even though assured that, with the divine aid, he would overcome the Midianites as easily as if they were but one man, he still hesitates and wishes to be better assured that the mission was really from God. He resembles Moses also in the desire for a sign; and in both cases it was the rarity of revelations in such periods of general corruption that made them so desirous of having the fullest conviction of being addressed by a heavenly messenger. The request was reasonable, and it was graciously granted [Jud 6:18].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The Lord looked upon him, with a settled and pleasant countenance, as a testimony of his favour to him, and of his readiness to help him.

Go in this thy might; or, go now, or at this time, in thy might; the strength which thou hast already received, and dost now further receive from me, is sufficient with my help.

Have not I sent thee? I do hereby give thee command and commission for this work, and therefore am obliged in honour to assist thee in it.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Lord looked upon him,.... The same before called the angel of the Lord, and who was no other than Jehovah himself; who looked upon him with great earnestness, and with great delight and pleasure smiled upon him, and thereby showing he had a kindness for him, and meant well to him: and

said unto him, go in this thy might; both of body and mind, which had been before given unto him, and was now increased, and which no doubt Gideon was sensible of:

and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites; as he did, and therefore justly reckoned among the saviours and judges of Israel:

have not I sent thee? to do this great work, save the people of Israel, from whence Gideon might perceive who it was that talked with him, and having a command and commission from God, had authority enough to go about this service.

Geneva Study Bible

And the {e} LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy {f} might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

(e) That is, Christ appearing in visible form.

(f) Which I have given to you.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. the Lord turned towards him] The narrator lets us into the secret, though Gideon has not yet recognized who the Traveller is; LXX here and in Jdg 6:16 (cf. LXX Exodus 4:24) reads ‘the angel of the Lord,’ an obvious way of introducing consistency.

Go in this thy might] See on Jdg 6:12. Gideon’s natural qualities were capable of being set to higher tasks. ‘God takes men as they are and makes them what they are not.’

have not I sent thee?] do not I send thee? The language of the speaker both here and in Jdg 6:16 seems to us to betray his real character; but Gideon does not see through the disguise till Jdg 6:22.

Judges 6:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Then Jehovah turned to him and said, Go in this thy strength, and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent thee?" The writer very appropriately uses the name Jehovah here, instead of the angel of Jehovah; for by his reply the angel distinctly manifested himself as Jehovah, more especially in the closing words, "Have not I sent thee?" (הלא, in the sense of lively assurance), which are so suggestive of the call of Moses to be the deliverer of Israel (Exodus 3:12). "In this thy strength," i.e., the strength which thou now hast, since Jehovah is with thee-Jehovah, who can still perform miracles as in the days of the fathers. The demonstrative "this" points to the strength which had just been given to him through the promise of God.