Judges 6:3

Jdg 6:3 And [so] it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

Ver. 3. And so it was, when Israel had sown.] This was threatened, {Deu 28:14-68} but not believed till it befell them, and the proverb {Joh 4:37} verified, "One soweth, and another reapeth."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 6:3-5. The children of the east — Probably the Ishmaelites, or Arabians, especially the eastern part of them. Unto Gaza — That is, from the east, on which side they entered, to the west, where Gaza was, near the Mediterranean sea. So that they destroyed the whole land. Without number — That is, so many that it was not easy to number them. And not in a regular army to engage, but in a confused swarm, to plunder the country. Yet Israel, being forsaken of God, had not spirit to make head against them; God fighting against them with those very terrors with which otherwise he would have fought for them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. So it was — Constantly for the seven years. Jdg_6:3-6 picture the ordinary state of the land during all this Midianite oppression.

The Amalekites — Also a nomadic race, who had dwindled into a band of robbers, and were ready to join with any stronger tribe in a predatory adventure. See on Jdg_3:13, and compare Gen_14:7; Exo_17:8.

Children of the east — A general name applied indiscriminately to all the tribes that occupied the deserts east of Palestine. Compare Jdg_8:10.

The east — kedem — was a term naturally and appropriately given by the early Israelites to the vast range of desert country that lay before them toward the rising sun, as they gazed from the hills on the east of the Jordan.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, of Kedem.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 3. Children of the East] Probably those who inhabited Arabia Deserta, Ishmaelites.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) When Israel had sown.—The invasions of these Arab tribes were of the most crushing and irritating kind. Living in idleness and marauding expeditions, they let the Israelites sow their corn, and came themselves to reap and carry it away. They said, “Let us take to ourselves the pastures of God”—i.e., the rich, blessed pastures—“in possession” (Psa_83:12). Alyattes, king of Lydia, treated the people of Miletus in exactly the same way, leaving their houses un-destroyed, solely that they might be tempted to return to them, and plough and sow once more (Herod. i. 17). The same thing goes on to this day. The wretched Fellahîn, neglected and oppressed by the effete and corrupt Turkish Government, sow their corn, with the constant dread that they are but sowing it for the Bedouin, who yearly plunder them, unrepressed and unpunished. Hence the squalid towns and villages of the Fellahîn abound in huge subterranean places of concealment, in which they stow away their corn, and everything else of value which they possess, to save them from these wild marauders.

The Amalekites.—See Jdg_3:13; Gen_36:12.

The children of the east.—Benî Kedem (Gen_25:6; Job_1:3) is a general name for Arabs, as Josephus rightly calls them. From Jdg_8:26 we can derive a picture of their chiefs in their gorgeous robes and golden ear-rings, mounted on dromedaries and camels, of which the necks were hung with moon-shaped ornaments of gold.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. the Amalekites] Hereditary foes of Israel, Exo_17:8 ff.; see on Jdg_3:13. The children of the East were Bedouin from the desert E. of Moab and Ammon; see Jer_49:28, Eze_25:4; Eze_25:10. These tribes appear again in Jdg_6:33 and Jdg_7:12. There is no reason why they should not have joined the Midianite raids, but they do not belong to the earlier form of the tradition which is concerned with the Midianites only.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And so it was, when Israel had sown,.... Their land, and it was grown up, and near being ripe, or quite; for the Midianites gave them no disturbance in the winter, and during seedtime, when they came out of their lurking holes, and manured their land, and sowed it:

that the Midianites came up; into the land of Canaan, from the other side Jordan, where their country lay, and which it seems lay lower than the land of Israel:

and the Amalekites, and the children of the east: the former were implacable enemies of Israel, and on every occasion would join other nations in oppressing them; and the children of the east were Arabians, as Josephus (b) expressly affirms:

even they came up against them; all these three sorts of people in a confederacy.

(b) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 6. sect. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Amalec was formerly widely dispersed through Arabia. Some dwelt to the south of the promised land, Exodus xvii., Numbers xiii. 3., 1 Kings xv. 6., and xxxi. 1. But these inhabited the eastern countries, concerning whom Balaam spoke, Numbers xxiv. 20. The Amalecites were scattered from Hevila upon the Euphrates, as far as the Red Sea and Sur, which is near Egypt, 1 Kings xv. 7., and xxvii. 8. The other eastern nations denote those who inhabited the desert Arabia, the Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, Cedarenians, &c., Isaias xi. 14., Jeremias xlix. 28., and Ezechiel viii. 7.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The children of the east, i.e. the Arabians, who are commonly called the children of the east, as Gen 29:1; Jdg 8:10,11; Job 1:3; Eze 25:4. Not all the Arabians, for in that were many and divers people; but in the eastern part of Arabia.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Children of the east. We first find this term in Gen_29:1, where it is applied to the people of Haran. Comparing the analogous phrases, "the east country", (Gen_25:6) the mountains of the east, (Num_23:7) "the men of the east", (Job_1:3) "the east", (Mat_2:1) we gather that the country lying to the east of Palestine as far as the river Euphrates was called the east country, and that the various tribes of Arabs and others who peopled that desert were called "the children of the cast". (see ver. 33 and Jud_1:7:12 8:10)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Children of the east - That is, the Arabians, who are commonly called the children of the east. Not all the Arabians; but the eastern part of them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

They would set up their army

"The army would encamp" or "The army would set up their tents"

translationWords

Israel

Midian

Amalek

Gaza

ewe

cow

donkey

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.