Judges 7:5

Jdg 7:5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

Ver. 5. That lappeth of the water, &c.] Iudicium strenuitatis et temperantice, saith Piscator: this was a sign of strength of body and temperance of mind, as the other posture was of weakness and greediness. Those are fit to follow the Lord, saith Diodat here, who for zeal to his service, do but taste the pleasures of the world as they pass along, without staying with them, only for necessity, and not for any constant delight they take in them. He which, with some of the Polonians, or with that dog Diogenes, lappeth water out of his hands, may nevertheless go forwards; as an Egyptian dog doth, when he lappeth the water of Nile in fear of a crocodile. {a}

{a} Solin., cap. 20.

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.

Let them depart as unmeet for this enterprise.

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

bring them down unto the water--When the wandering people in Asia, on a journey or in haste, come to water, they do not stoop down with deliberation on their knees, but only bend forward as much as is necessary to bring their hand in contact with the stream, and throw it up with rapidity, and at the same time such address, that they do not drop a particle. The Israelites, it seems, were acquainted with the practice; and those who adopted it on this occasion were selected as fit for a work that required expedition. The rest were dismissed according to the divine direction.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. Every one that lappeth of the water - as a dog] The original word ילק yalok is precisely the sound which a dog makes when he is drinking.

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

(5) Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue.—Josephus (Antt. v. 6, § 4) says that Gideon led them down to the spring in the fiercest heat of the noonday, and that he judged those to be the bravest who flung themselves down and drank, and those to be the cowards who lapped the water hastily and tumultuously. Theodoret also thinks that the Divine aid was shown by the fact that the greatest cowards were chosen. This may have been a Jewish legend (Hagadah); but it seems more reasonable to suppose that greater self-control would be shown by stooping and drinking the water out of the hand than by flinging themselves at full length to drink, which would be the natural instinct of a thirsty man. Rashi says that those who went down on their knees to drink were secret idolators, who had “bowed the knee to Baal” (1Ki_19:18).

As a dog lappeth.—Some commentators fancy that this is an allusion to Egyptian dogs, who, out of fear for the Nile crocodiles, only venture to lap the water while they are running along the banks.

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

5. At the end of the verse LXX. cod. A and Luc. adds ‘him shalt thou set by himself,’ completing the parallel with the foregoing sentence. The words have probably fallen out by accident.

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.

So he brought them down to the water,.... His whole army of 10,000 men:

and the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shall thou set by himself; this has led some, as particularly Grotius, to think of the Egyptian dogs; of whom Aelianus relates (b), that they do not drink at once freely, and to satiety, being afraid of the crocodiles in the river; but run about the bank, and by stealth snatch a little here and a little there, and so satisfy themselves: but the allusion here is to dogs in common, whose usual way it is not to sup in, and drink a drought, but by putting out their tongues to lick and lap water with them, as Aristotle (c) says all creatures do that have teeth like saws; and the likeness between the drinking of these men, to be observed lay not in anything else but in the single action of lapping; for they first took the water in the hollow of their hands, out of the stream, and then lapped it, as in Jdg 7:6 whereas a dog does not and cannot take water that way; and this lapping was standing upright, whereas dogs in common, as Aelianus in the same place suggests, bow themselves, and lap as much water as will satisfy their thirst; and by this these men were distinguished from those that bowed on their knees to drink; for had they not taken up water in their hands, they must have bowed down on their knees to have lapped, as well as those did, to sup it, or take in a large draught of it; now all those that thus lapped were to be set apart by themselves; but whether they were to go with Gideon or not, as yet he knew not: likewise everyone that boweth down on his knee to drink; were to be set by themselves also, but which of those were to go with him is after related.

(b) Var. Hist. l. 1. c. 4. (c) Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 6.

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

Tongues. Some Latin copies add, "and hand," as it is expressed in Hebrew, &c., in the following verse. They resembled dogs more in the hurry than in the method of taking water. An old proverb says, "the dog drinks and flees away," (Calmet) alluding to the dogs of Egypt, who, through fear of the crocodiles which infest the banks of the Nile, lap the water with all expedition, "like a dog from the Nile." (Erasmus; Haydock; Macrobius ii. 2.) --- Hence we might infer, that these 300 men were the most cowardly in the army, as Josephus, ([Antiquities?] v. 8,) Theodoret, (q. 15,) have done; (Calmet) and thus the glory of the victory would belong more incontrovertibly to God. (Haydock) --- But as these 300, on this supposition, ought to have been disbanded, as well as the rest, we may rather conclude that they shewed greater courage and temperance by their posture, and were therefore retained (Calmet) to accompany their heroic leader in his perilous expedition. We must, nevertheless remark, that only those who preferred to acknowledge their fear, were disbanded according to the law; and as, among those who were not quite so cowardly, (Haydock) there would be some less courageous than others, (Amama) these might be selected by God, that no flesh should glory in his sight, 1 Corinthians i. 29. (Haydock)

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).

It is true, there may be natural reasons given why some did only lap of the water, when others bowed down to drink; from the temperance, or fortitude, or patience, or strength, or diligence of the one, and the intemperance, or cowardice, or impatience, or weakness, or slothfulness of the other; but these seem to be mere conjectures: the true reason and design of this course seems to be only this, that God would reduce them to a very small number, which was likely to be done by this means; for the season of the year being hot, and the generality of the soldiers weary, and thirsty, and faint, they would most probably bow down upon their knees, that they might more fully refresh themselves by a liberal draught, as indeed they did; and it could be expected that there would be but few, who either could or would deny themselves in this matter, especially when God concurred in the work, and so disposed of the minds and bodies of them, that all, except three hundred, should lie down to drink.

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

5. Lappeth of the water with his tongue — The Hebrew word for lapping (ילק, yalok) is onomatopoetic, and sounds in its pronunciation like the noise of a dog when drinking. It appears from the next verse that the three hundred that lapped took up the water from the fountain in the hollow of their hands, and thence licked it into their mouths. This manner of drinking was no evidence of fear and cowardice, as Josephus imagines, but rather a commendable qualification in a soldier. For in the heat of battle it might often give a warrior great advantage over his foe, if, coming to a stream, he could thus easily refresh himself with drink without being obliged, if he drank at all, to fall down on his knees, and thereby expose himself to almost certain death from his enemy. “Those only are the true warriors of Jehovah, who, when an enjoyment is offered, as for instance, refreshment at a living well, taste it only in passing, and while standing on the alert; not seeking enjoyment, and crouching down to it in indolent comfort, but, mindful every minute of the business in hand and the desired victory, only lapping the water like dogs upon their way.” — Ewald.

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

Vers. 5, 6. The water, viz., of the well or spring of Harod. That lappeth, etc. It showed a much more soldierly and self-controlled spirit just to quench the thirst by lapping the water out of the palm of the hand, than to kneel down and drink without stint out of the spring itself. The Lord saw the difference of character indicated by the two actions, and chose his instruments accordingly.

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

Gideon brought

The word "brought" can be translated as "took" or "led." (See: Go and Come)

laps

to drink by licking with the tongue

Three hundred men

"300 men" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

Gideon

water

Yahweh

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

Anyone who laps with his tongue, etc. Anyone who bends forward while on his knees to drink, set them aside, out of your retinue. They shall not accompany you, since they are practiced in kneeling before idols.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.