Judges 6:1-10 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.… The narrative of the sacred historian, though brief, gives a vivid picture of the ravages of the Midianites, and of the pitiable distress to which Israel was reduced. They chose the spring when the seed had been sown, and came up with all the accompaniments of Bedouin life, "with their cattle, their tents, and their camels." They ranged over the entire plain, beginning at the bank of the Jordan, and proceeding farther and farther westward "until thou come to Gaza," on the low-lying sandy shore of the Mediterranean. They carried their plundering incursions far up into the hills of Manasseh, of Zebulun, and of Naphtali. They arranged no regular campaign, but pitched their tents wherever they pleased; roaming in armed parties over the whole country, and spreading terror in every direction. The farmers, instead of combining in self-defence, fled to the hills or sheltered themselves in caves; leaving their produce to the robbers, who "destroyed the increase of the earth," carried off the cattle, and "left neither sheep, nor ex, nor ass," nor any kind of sustenance for Israel. After they had plundered all, they withdrew till the following season, when they again came up from the desert, after the seed had been sown, to renew their depredations. For seven successive years were these ravages committed — ravages more terrible than those of war — until the Israelitish people had become not only "greatly impoverished," but utterly disheartened. (L. H. Wiseman, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. |
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