The Meaning of Judges 6:3 Explained

Judges 6:3

KJV: 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;

YLT: And it hath been, if Israel hath sowed, that Midian hath come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, yea, they have come up against him,

Darby: For whenever the Israelites put in seed the Mid'ianites and the Amal'ekites and the people of the East would come up and attack them;

ASV: And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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; 

What does Judges 6:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 6:1-6 - At The Mercy Of Midian
What a contrast our reading suggests between those that love the Lord and go from strength to strength in the undimming luster and influence of their life, and the evil that once more brought the tyrant's yoke upon this neck of Israel! Yet these alternations have too often befallen us. At one moment Sisera and his hosts are chased before us as sheep before the dog; then a reaction sets in and the hand of Midian prevails against us. Why are we not always glad, strong, and victorious? Is it not because we look to our moods, we relax our close walk with God, and we set up the images of Baal in our hearts? We are then reduced to the plight described here and in Haggai 1:6. Why are there not more conversions in the Church? Why is there so little difference between the Church and the world? Why is so much of our Sunday-school teaching ineffective? Ah, the Midianite is in our midst and we acquiesce! The urgent, primal need of the present day is for the Church to realize her true condition, and cry mightily unto God for help. Note Judges 6:6 and Joel 1:14, etc. [source]

Chapter Summary: Judges 6

1  The Israelites for their sin are oppressed by Midian
8  A prophet rebukes them
11  An angel sends Gideon for their deliverance
17  Gideon's present is consumed with fire
24  Gideon destroys Baal's altar; offers a sacrifice upon the altar Jehovah-shalom
28  Joash defends his son, and calls him Jerubbaal
33  Gideon's army
36  Gideon's signs

What do the individual words in Judges 6:3 mean?

So it was whenever had sown Israel and would come up Midianites and Amalekites and the sons of the East and would come up against them
וְהָיָ֖ה אִם־ זָרַ֣ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְעָלָ֨ה מִדְיָ֧ן וַֽעֲמָלֵ֛ק וּבְנֵי־ קֶ֖דֶם וְעָל֥וּ עָלָֽיו

וְהָיָ֖ה  So  it  was 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
אִם־  whenever 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: אִם  
Sense: if.
זָרַ֣ע  had  sown 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: זָרַע  
Sense: to sow, scatter seed.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
וְעָלָ֨ה  and  would  come  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
מִדְיָ֧ן  Midianites 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִדְיָן  
Sense: son of Abraham by Keturah and progenitor of the tribe of Midianites or Arabians.
וַֽעֲמָלֵ֛ק  and  Amalekites 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֲמָלֵק  
Sense: son of Eliphaz by his concubine Timnah, grandson of Esau, and progenitor of a race of people in southern Canaan.
וּבְנֵי־  and  the  sons 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
קֶ֖דֶם  of  the  East 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: קֶדֶם 
Sense: east, antiquity, front, that which is before, aforetime.
וְעָל֥וּ  and  would  come  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
עָלָֽיו  against  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.