Judges 6:13Gideon said to him, "Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, 'Didn't Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian."
The setting
Same winepress in Ophrah. Gideon challenges the angel with raw honesty about Israel's seven years of Midianite oppression...
The emotion here: frustrated disappointment mixed with desperate hope
The original word
niphla'ot (נִפְלְאוֹתָיו) — His wonders, miraculous works that inspire awe and amazement
Why it matters
For seven years, Midianites came like locusts at harvest time, leaving Israel destitute
Read with care
What most readers miss in Judges 6:13
Gideon's 'if' shows he doubted whether God was truly present with them
Common misconceptionPeople think questioning God shows weak faith. Gideon's honest doubt led to one of Israel's greatest deliverances.
The thread continues
Verses that echo Judges 6:13
Bible Genome reading
Judges 6:13 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
Judges 6:13 comes from the book of Judges, written during the judges period. These words are attributed to Gideon. The dominant emotion in this verse is seeking, with a comfort power of 40% and a tone that is lamenting. It belongs to the dialogue genre of biblical literature. Key themes include doubt, questioning, suffering. Notable phrases: if Yahweh is with us; why then.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same seeking
“Pray without ceasing.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:17
“But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
— Amos 5:24
“Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that …”
— Genesis 18:25
“Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don't know.”
— Jeremiah 33:3
“Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evi…”
— Luke 11:4
Your reflection
What does Judges 6:13 mean to you, today?
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