Judges 6

Judges 6:1

Origen of Alexandria: The “land was at rest” as long as sin was at rest. But the land is said to be disturbed, meaning those who inhabit the land, when the souls of the people began to move and to dislocate in sin. This is why the text was written this way: “The land was at rest for forty years. And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. And Midian ruled over Israel.” As long as there was justice in the land, therefore, that is, in those who inhabited the land, the land is said to be at rest. But when iniquity arose and “they did evil in the sight of the Lord,” then the Lord is said to have delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. Nor are the Midianites said to have ruled over the people of the Lord as long as they observed the commandments of the Lord. But when they began to neglect the divine mandates, the hand of their enemy became stronger and more powerful against them. Yet, whereas their bodily enemies arose and strengthened against them when the first people failed, against us, on the other hand, who are called the spiritual Israel, a spiritual enemy will arise and the hand of demons will be strengthened when we neglect the commandments of God and hold the precepts of Christ in contempt, and we will be delivered to our own enemies when we forsake God’s grace. — HOMILIES ON Judges 7.1

Judges 6:8

Augustine of Hippo: And it came to pass that when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord for Midian, the Lord sent a man a prophet unto the children of Israel, and said unto them. There is some hidden reason for not saying the name of this prophet, which is very rare in the Scriptures, but I do not think there is no reason. Well, as after the words with which he rebuked the disobedience of the people, the Scripture continues saying: And the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ephra (Jc 6,11), it is not absurd to think that under the name of the prophet man This angel is indicated, so that, after saying these words, he has come to the aforementioned oak tree and has sat there. It is a known fact that angels are usually called men, but it does not appear easily or clearly that the man, who could be an angel, (Cf Genesis 19,10) was called a prophet. We read that the one who was a prophet is called an angel (Cf Matthew 11,9-10). But if the prophetic words of the angels are known, that is, the words with which they announced future things, why could not an angel be called a prophet? However, as I said, there is no clear and explicit testimony on this matter. — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 31 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Judges 6:11

Ambrose of Milan: When Jerubbaal, as we read, was beating out wheat under an oak, he received a message from God in order that he might bring the people of God from the power of strangers into liberty. Nor is it a matter of wonder if he was chosen for grace, seeing that even then, being appointed under the shadow of the holy cross and of the adorable Wisdom in the predestined mystery of the future incarnation, he was bringing forth the visible grains of the fruitful corn from their hiding places and was [mystically] separating the elect of the saints from the refuse of the empty chaff. For these elect, as though trained with the rod of truth, laying aside the superfluities of the old man together with his deeds, are gathered in the church as in a winepress. For the church is the winepress of the eternal fountain, since from it wells forth the juice of the heavenly Vine. — On the Holy Spirit, Book 1.1

Caesarius of Arles: When Gideon, the son of Joash, was beating the grain of wheat with a rod under an oak tree, he merited to hear an angel promise that he would deliver God’s people from the power of their enemies. It is no wonder that he was chosen for a special grace, when by the predestined mystery of the future incarnation he was even then seated under the shade of the cross of holy and venerable wisdom. He was bringing the tangible grains of a fruitful field out of their concealment, separating choice holy men from the rubbish of useless chaff. Putting aside the superfluities of the old man and his actions by treating them with the rod of experienced truth, they are assembled in the church as in a winepress. The church is the winepress of the eternal fountain in which abounds the fruit of the heavenly vine. — SERMON 117.1

Judges 6:12

Augustine of Hippo: What the angel says to Gideon: The Lord is with you powerful in strength, is in nominative, not vocative, and therefore, its meaning is “The Lord is powerful with you,” and not “you, powerful.” — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 32 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Judges 6:14

Augustine of Hippo: It is necessary to notice that the angel, when he spoke to Gideon, said to him as if he were speaking with divine authority: Am I not the one who sent you? Because who sent him, but who sent the angel? Deborah does not say to Baraq, “Have not I commanded you?” But he says to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded you?” (Jc 4,6) Here, on the other hand, it is not said: Is not the Lord has he sent you? But it is said: Am I not the one who sent you? — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 33 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Judges 6:15

Augustine of Hippo: When Gideon responds to the angel: In me, Lord - that is, listen to me. With what will I save Israel? Behold, the thousand men of mine are the most humble in Manasseh, it is understood that he was the leader of a thousand men, whom the Scripture calls in Greek jiliárjous. Or is it something else? — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 34 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Judges 6:18

Augustine of Hippo: It should be noted that Gideon does not say to the angel: I will offer you a sacrifice, but he says to him: I will offer my sacrifice and I will put it in your presence. Therefore, we must think that Gideon did not want to offer his sacrifice to the angel, but through the angel. And this is made clear by the angel himself, since he did not take the sacrifice from him, as if offering it to him, but he says to him: Take the unleavened meats and bread and put them next to that stone and pour the broth. When Gideon did it, the angel of the Lord extended the end of the rod that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread, and fire came out of the stone and consumed the unleavened meat and bread (Jc 6,20-21). In the same way, the angel also served as minister in the sacrifice that Gideon offered, since the man minister, as a man, would have lit the fire without a miracle, a fire that he kindled as an angel in a miraculous way. Finally, Gideon knew then that it was the angel of the Lord. The Scripture immediately adds the following: And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord. So, at first Gideon spoke with him as if he were a man, although he believed that he was a man of God and wanted to offer sacrifice before him as if he wanted to be helped by his holy presence. — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 35 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Judges 6:19

Ambrose of Milan: And Gideon, moved by that message, when he heard that, though thousands of the people failed, God would deliver His own from their enemies by means of one man, offered a kid, and according to the word of the Angel, laid its flesh and the unleavened cakes upon the rock, and poured the broth upon them. And as soon as the Angel touched them with the end of the staff which he bore, fire burst forth out of the rock, and so the sacrifice which he was offering was consumed. By which it seems clear that that rock was a figure of the Body of Christ, for it is written: “They drank of that rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” Which certainly refers not to His Godhead, but to His Flesh, which watered the hearts of the thirsting people with the perpetual stream of His Blood.

Even at that time was it declared in a mystery that the Lord Jesus in His Flesh would, when crucified, do away the sins of the whole world, and not only the deeds of the body, but the desires of the soul. For the flesh of the kid refers to sins of deed, the broth to the enticements of desire as it is written: “For the people lusted an evil lust, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?” That the Angel then stretched forth his staff, and touched the rock, from which fire went out, shows that the Flesh of the Lord, being filled with the Divine Spirit, would burn away all the sins of human frailty. Wherefore, also, the Lord says: “I am come to send fire upon the earth.” — On the Holy Spirit, Book 1

Gregory the Dialogist: “But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” “The humour,” therefore, “is wiped off,” when sin is not only severed from the deed, but also from the thought. It is hence that Jerubbaal saw the Angel when he was winnowing corn from the chaff, at whose bidding he forthwith dressed a kid and set it upon a rock, and poured over it the broth of the flesh, which the Angel touched with a rod, and thereupon fire coming out of the rock consumed it. For what else is it to beat corn with a rod, but to separate the grains of virtues from the chaff of vices, with an upright judgment? But to those that are thus employed the Angel presents himself, in that the Lord is more ready to communicate interior truths in proportion as men are more earnest in ridding themselves of external things. And he orders a kid to be killed, i.e. every appetite of the flesh to be sacrificed, and the flesh to be set upon a rock, and the broth thereof to be poured upon it. Whom else does the “rock” represent, saving Him, of Whom it is said by Paul, “And that rock was Christ”? We “set flesh then upon the rock,” when in imitation of Christ we crucify our body. He too pours the juice of the flesh over it, who, in following the conversation of Christ, empties himself even of the mere thoughts of the flesh themselves. For “the broth” of the dissolved flesh is in a manner “poured upon the rock,” when the mind is emptied of the flow of carnal thoughts too. Yet the Angel directly touches it with a rod, in that the might of God’s succour never leaves our striving forsaken. And fire issues from the rock, and consumes the broth and the flesh, in that the Spirit, breathed upon us by the Redeemer, lights up the heart with so fierce a flame of compunction, that it consumes every thing in it that is unlawful either in deed or in thought. — Morals on the Book of Job 3.30.59

Judges 6:20

Augustine of Hippo: You may wonder why Gideon dared to offer a sacrifice to God outside of the place that God Himself had established. God, in effect, had forbidden sacrifices to be offered outside his tabernacle, (Cf Deuteronomy 12,13) to which the temple later happened. But in the time of Gideon the tabernacle of God was in Shiloh, and therefore, only there sacrifices could legitimately be offered. However, we must bear in mind that at the beginning Gideon had believed that the angel was a prophet, and had consulted him as God about the offering of sacrifice. If he had forbidden it, he would not have offered it; but as he approved it, and agreed to be offered, Gideon followed the authority of God in offering it. God established legitimate norms, so that he did not give rules to himself, but to men. Therefore, everything that God commanded outside those norms, it is to be assumed that they have fulfilled it, not the transgressors, but the pious and obedient, as Abraham did when immolating his son (Cf Genesis 22,2). Elijah also offered sacrifices in this way outside the tabernacle of the Lord to convince the priests of idols (Cf 1R 18,30.38). And this is supposed to be done by the command of the Lord who commanded him to do so, as a prophet who was, by revelation and inspiration. Although the custom of offering sacrifices outside the tabernacle had grown so large, it seems that even Solomon offered sacrifices on high and that his sacrifices were not reprobated, (Cf 1R 3,4-15) notwithstanding the kings being told that among their praiseworthy works they did not destroy the high places where the people used to offer sacrifices against the law of God. And, on the other hand, the king who destroyed them receives greater praise. In short, God tolerated more than forbade the custom of his people to offer sacrifices outside his tabernacle, but they could not offer themselves to foreign gods, but to the Lord God theirs, being propitious even to those who offered them in this way. Now, what Gideon did, who does not see that the angel did it in a prophetic way so that in that prophecy the stone could be seen? And naturally the sacrifice was not offered to that stone, but it is remembered that fire came out of it to consume the sacrifice. Well, either the water that poured out through the desert (Cf Numbers 20,11) the stone that was beaten or the fire signified the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Christ the Lord poured out abundantly upon us. This gift is also pointed out by the gospel through water, when the Lord says: If anyone is thirsty, let him come and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, will flow from his bosom rivers of living water. And the evangelist adds: This told him of the Spirit that would receive those who believed in him (John 7,37-39). This also means the fire that came upon the assembled, as the Scripture says: They appeared some tongues spread out like fire, which landed on each of them (Acts 2,3). And the Lord himself says: I have come to bring fire to the earth (Lc 12,49). — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 36 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Judges 6:25

Ambrose of Milan: Then the man, instructed and fore-knowing what was to be, observes the heavenly mysteries, and therefore, according to the warning, slew the bullock destined by his father to idols, and himself offered to God another bullock seven years old. By doing which he most plainly showed that after the coming of the Lord all Gentile sacrifices should be done away, and that only the sacrifice of the Lord’s passion should be offered for the redemption of the people. For that bullock was, in a type, Christ, in Whom, as Esaias said, dwelt the fulness of the seven gifts of the Spirit. This bullock Abraham also offered when he saw the day of the Lord and was glad. He it is Who was offered at one time in the type of a kid, at another in that of a sheep, at another in that of a bullock. Of a kid, because He is a sacrifice for sin; of a sheep, because He is an unresisting victim; of a bullock, because He is a victim without blemish. — On the Holy Spirit, Book 1

Judges 6:36

Ambrose of Milan: Some one perhaps will enquire whether he does not seem to have been wanting in faith, seeing that after being instructed by many signs he asked still more. But how can he seem to have asked as if doubting or wanting in faith, who was speaking in mysteries? He was not then doubtful, but careful that we should not doubt. For how could he be doubtful whose prayer was effectual? And how could he have begun the battle without fear, unless he had understood the message of God? for the dew on the fleece signified the faith among the Jews, because the words of God come down like the dew. — On the Holy Spirit, Book 1

Ambrose of Milan: But what does this mean: “Until the day on which the Lord shall send rain on the earth”? except that he, too, “shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and like the drops that water the earth.” In this passage the mystery of the old history is disclosed where Gideon, the warrior of the mystic conflict, receiving the pledge of future victory, recognized the spiritual sacrament in the vision of his mind, that that rain was the dew of the divine Word, which first came down on the fleece, when all the earth was parched with continual drought, and by a second true sign, moistened the floor of all the earth with a shower, while dryness was upon the fleece. — Concerning Widows 3.18

Augustine of Hippo: Again on this subject it is written: “For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the law, the justice of God is made manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” When he says “made manifest” he shows that it had existed but was like the dew for which Gideon asked; then it was not visible on the fleece, but now it is made manifest on the ground around. Therefore, since law without grace could only strengthen rather than kill sin—as it is written: “The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law”—and as many flee to grace for refuge from the face of sin which had been so enthroned, to grace lying manifest, as it were, on the ground, so at that time few fled to it [grace] for refuge, invisible as it were, on the fleece. Indeed, this division of times belongs to the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God, of which it is said: “How incomprehensible are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!” — LETTER 177

Augustine of Hippo: “And he shall come down like rain into a fleece, and like drops distilling upon the earth.” He has reminded and admonished us that what was done by Gideon the judge has its end in Christ. He asked the Lord for a sign, that a fleece laid on the floor should alone be rained upon and the floor should be dry; and again, that the fleece alone should be dry and the floor should be rained upon; and so it happened. This dry fleece, which lay upon a floor in the midst of the whole round world, signified the former people Israel. Therefore, Christ came down like rain upon the fleece while the floor remained dry; concerning this he said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” There [in Israel] he selected a mother through whom he would receive the [bodily] form of a servant in order to appear to humanity: there he gave this command to the disciples, saying, “Don’t go in the direction of the nations or enter into the cities of the Samaritans: go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” When he said, go “first” to them, he also showed that afterward, when the floor was to be rained upon, they would also go to other sheep who were not of the former people of Israel. Concerning these he says, “I have other sheep which are not of this fold; I need to bring in them also, that there may be one flock and one Shepherd.” For this reason the apostle also says, “For I say that Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises of the patriarchs.” Thus rain came down upon the fleece, while the floor remained dry. Regarding this he continues, “so that the nations should glorify God for his mercy,” and, when the time arrived, that what he says by the prophet should be fulfilled, “a people whom I have not known has served me, in listening attentively it has obeyed me.” We now understand that the nation of the Jews has remained dry of Christ’s grace, and all the nations throughout the whole round world are being rained upon by clouds full of Christian grace. He has indicated this rain with another phrase, as he says that “drops [are] distilling” no longer upon the fleece but “upon the earth.” For what else is rain but drops distilling? I think that the above [Jewish] nation is signified as a fleece either because they were to be stripped of the authority of teaching—just as a sheep is stripped of its skin—or because he was hiding that same rain in a secret place and did not desire that it should be preached to those who were not circumcised, that is, to be revealed to uncircumcised nations. — EXPLANATIONS OF THE Psalms 72.9

Augustine of Hippo: What did Gideon’s fleece signify? It is like the nation of the Jews in the midst of the world, which had the grace of sacraments, not indeed openly manifested, but hidden in a cloud or in a veil, like the dew in the fleece. The time came when the dew was to be manifested in the floor; it was manifested, no longer hidden. Christ alone is the sweetness of dew: him alone you do not recognize in Scripture, for whom Scripture was written. But yet, “they have heard all the words of your mouth.” — EXPLANATIONS OF THE Psalms 138.7

Augustine of Hippo: But some, like the Jews in former times, both wish to be called Christians, and—still ignorant of God’s righteousness—desire to establish their own, even in our own times of open grace, of the full revelation of grace that was previously hidden, that is, in the times of grace now manifested in the floor, which had before lay hidden in the fleece.… Gideon, one of the righteous men of old, asked for a sign from the Lord, and said, “I pray, Lord, that this fleece which I put on the floor would be wet with dew, and that the floor would be dry.” And it was so. The fleece was wet with dew while the whole floor was dry. In the morning he wrung out the fleece in a basin—since grace is given to the humble—and you know what the Lord did to his disciples [with water] in a basin. He asked for yet another sign: “O Lord, I [pray] that the fleece would be dry, and the floor wet with dew.” And it was so. Consider how, in the time of the Old Testament, grace was hidden in a cloud, as the rain in the fleece. Note also the time of the New Testament: if you consider the nation of the Jews, you will find it like the dry fleece, whereas the whole world, like that floor, is full of grace, not hidden but manifested. Therefore we are greatly compelled to grieve for our brothers who strive against openly manifested, rather than hidden, grace. There is allowance for the Jews, but what shall we say of Christians? For what reason are you enemies of Christ’s grace? Why do you rely on yourselves? Why are you unthankful? Why did Christ come? Wasn’t [human] nature here before, which you only deceive by your excessive praise? Wasn’t the law here? But the apostle says, “If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” What the apostle says of the law, we say regarding nature concerning these people. “If righteousness comes through [human] nature, then Christ died in vain.” — SERMON 81.9

Caesarius of Arles: Now, although Gideon was brave and confident, still he sought fuller proofs of victory from the Lord, saying, “If indeed you are going to save Israel through me, as you promised, O Lord, I am putting this woolen fleece on the threshing floor. If dew comes on the fleece, while all the ground is dry, I shall know that you will save the people through me, as you promised.” That is what took place. Afterwards, he added that the second time dew should pour over all the ground and only the fleece be dry; and so it happened. The dew on the fleece was faith in Judea, for the words of God descend as dew; for this reason Moses says, “May my discourse be awaited like the rain, and my words descend like the dew.” Thus, when the whole world was dried up from the unproductive heat of Gentile superstition, then there was the dew of a heavenly visitation upon the fleece, that is, in Judea. However, after “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (foreshadowing, I think, the figure of the fleece of the Jews) refused the fountain of living water, the dew of faith dried up in the hearts of the Jews, and that divine stream turned its path to the hearts of the Gentiles. For this reason, the whole world is now moist with the dew of faith, but the Jews destroyed their prophets and advisers. It is no wonder that they submit to the dryness of faithlessness, since the Lord God deprived them of the fruitful rains of the prophets, saying, “I will command the clouds not to send rain upon that vineyard.” Salutary is the rain of the prophetic cloud, as David said: “He shall be like rain coming down on the meadow, like showers watering the earth.” The sacred writings of the whole world promised us this rain which watered the world at the advent of our Lord and Savior with the dew of the divine spirit. Thus, the dew has already come, and also the rain; the Lord came and brought with him heavenly showers. For this reason, we who thirsted before now drink, and by an interior drinking [we] absorb that divine spirit. Therefore, holy Gideon foresaw that by perceiving faith, even tribes and nations would drink the true heavenly dew. — SERMON 117.4

Origen of Alexandria: But now let’s see why, in the first sign, “dew fell upon the fleece, whereas the ground was dry,” and in the second sign, “dew fell upon the ground, while the fleece remained dry,” an indication which Gideon accepted as a pledge that the Lord would save Israel through his hand. The rationale for this mystery is to be seen in what I remember from one of our preceding books, which characterized the people of Israel as a “fleece,” with the surrounding ground being the Gentiles, while the dew that fell “upon the fleece” was the word of God written for this people alone. For only to Israel did the dew of the divine law arrive, whereas all the surrounding nations remained dry, none of them being infused with the moisture of divine locution. In the second sign, however, where he asked that the dew fall on the ground and that the fleece remain dry, a completely different rationale can be observed. We should see this entire people, who were gathered together from nations around the world, now having within themselves the divine dew; see them infused with the dew of Moses, irrigated by the word of the prophets; see them green from evangelical and apostolic water. The fleece, however, that is, the Jewish people, suffers aridity and dryness in the word of God, according to which it is written: “The children of Israel will be for a long time without king, without prince, without prophet; they will have no altar, no victim, no sacrifice.” You can see how they remain arid, how they are stricken with drought of the word of God.… Even the seventy-first psalm, as I have often discussed with them, moves me to this conclusion because, when it describes the advent of Christ, it foretells his coming as rain on a fleece and as showers on the earth. Here in Judges a fleece is mentioned and in the psalm, also, “fleece” is the word chosen. For he will “descend like rain,” it says, “on a fleece.” He descends, therefore, on that fleece of the people of circumcision and “like showers upon the earth,” meaning that our Lord Jesus Christ descends on the remainder of the earth, dripping upon us and bringing the “dew of heaven” to us Gentiles also, that we too may drink who were on the previously arid surrounding land. — HOMILIES ON Judges 8.4

Judges 6:37

Ambrose of Milan: Nor, again, was it without a reason that he dried the fleece of the Jews, and put the dew from it into a basin, so that it was filled with water, yet he did not himself wash his feet in that dew. The prerogative of so great a mystery was to be given to another. He was being waited for Who alone could wash away the filth of all. Gideon was not great enough to claim this mystery for himself, but “the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Let us, then, recognize in Whom these mysteries are seen to be accomplished. Not in holy Gideon, for they were still at their commencement. Therefore the Gentiles were surpassed, for dryness was still upon the Gentiles, and therefore did Israel surpass them, for then did the dew remain on the fleece.

Let us come now to the Gospel of God. I find the Lord stripping Himself of His garments, and girding Himself with a towel, pouring water into a basin, and washing the disciples’ feet. That heavenly dew was this water, this was foretold, namely, that the Lord Jesus Christ would wash the feet of His disciples in that heavenly dew. — On the Holy Spirit, Book 1

Ambrose of Milan: Nor was it without a reason that he put the fleece neither in a field nor in a meadow, but in a threshing-floor, where is the harvest of the wheat: “For the harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few;” because that, through faith in the Lord, there was about to be a harvest fruitful in virtues. — On the Holy Spirit, Book 1

Maximus of Turin: Rightly, then, do we compare Mary with fleece—she who conceived the Lord in such a way that she absorbed him with her whole body; nor did she undergo a rending of that same body, but she was tender in submission and firm in chastity. Rightly, I say, is Mary compared with fleece—she from whose offspring saving garments are woven for the people. Clearly Mary is fleece since from her tender womb came forth the Lamb who himself, bearing his mother’s wool (that is, flesh), covers the wounds of all peoples with a soft fleece. For every wound of sin is covered with the wool of Christ, tended by the blood of Christ, and, so that it may receive health, clothed in the garment of Christ. — SERMON 97.3

Judges 6:40

Jerome: The truth of the Lord reaches even to the clouds. The clouds are the apostles and prophets; to them he gave the command not to rain upon Israel. This is in agreement with history as recorded in the book of Judges, where it speaks of the fleece that was dry while rain fell upon the rest of the world. It means that Israel is dry and the rain is pouring down over the whole world. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 24 (Psalms 96)