But if you are afraid to do so, then go down to the camp with your servant Purah
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp.
- KJV But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:
- NKJV But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant,
- NASB But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp,
- NLT But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Knowing Gideon's fear, God graciously offers him a way to be strengthened by first going down with his servant.
Overview
God accommodates Gideon's lingering fear, permitting him to scout the camp with his servant Purah before attacking. The Lord meets His servant's weakness with patient encouragement rather than rebuke. This tender condescension reveals a God who strengthens the faltering faith of those He calls.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Exod 4:10–14“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
- Judg 4:8–9Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 7:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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