The Meaning of Judges 7:3 Explained

Judges 7:3

KJV: Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

YLT: and now, call, I pray thee, in the ears of the people, saying, Whoso is afraid and trembling, let him turn back and go early from mount Gilead;' and there turn back of the people twenty and two thousand, and ten thousand have been left.

Darby: Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.'" And Gideon tested them; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

ASV: Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now therefore go to,  proclaim  in the ears  of the people,  saying,  Whosoever [is] fearful  and afraid,  let him return  and depart early  from mount  Gilead.  And there returned  of the people  twenty  and two  thousand;  and there remained  ten  thousand. 

What does Judges 7:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 7:1-8 - Quantity Versus Quality
"No king is saved by the multitude of an host," Psalms 33:16. God does not need multitudes. It is false to say that He is "on the side of the heaviest battalions." Read 2 Chronicles 14:1-15; 2 Chronicles 23:1-21. Those that are fearful and trembling, because they look at the might of their enemies rather than to the eternal God, had better depart to their homes; they are an impediment and hindrance, and may, by an evil telepathy, slacken the faith of others. Those also who forget that they are soldiers, who put the ease of the body before the strenuous attitude of the soul, who think most and first of their physical indulgence, are of no use to God for great exploits. Send them to their tents; they can assist in the secondary work of pursuit.
It was a very little act-the attitude in drinking-but how much it meant! The 300 who caught up the water in the hollow of their hands, showed that they could not forget the foe; that they were resolved to subordinate bodily appetite to the spirit and dared not relax their girded loins. These are the men that God can use! But 300 of these are enough to rout 135,000, Judges 7:8-10. Live in the Spirit; walk in the Spirit; be always in touch with the Spirit, and make no provision for the flesh, Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:16. And be faithful, also, in very little actions. [source]

Chapter Summary: Judges 7

1  Gideon's army of thirty-two thousand is brought to three hundred
9  He is encouraged by the dream and interpretation of the burley cake
16  His plan of trumpets and lamps in pitchers
24  The Ephraimites take Oreb and Zeeb

What do the individual words in Judges 7:3 mean?

Therefore now proclaim now in the hearing of the people saying who [is] fearful and afraid let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead And returned of the people twenty and two thousand and ten thousand remained -
וְעַתָּ֗ה קְרָ֨א נָ֜א בְּאָזְנֵ֤י הָעָם֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר מִֽי־ יָרֵ֣א וְחָרֵ֔ד יָשֹׁ֥ב וְיִצְפֹּ֖ר מֵהַ֣ר הַגִּלְעָ֑ד וַיָּ֣שָׁב מִן־ הָעָ֗ם עֶשְׂרִ֤ים וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙ אֶ֔לֶף וַעֲשֶׂ֥רֶת אֲלָפִ֖ים נִשְׁאָֽרוּ ס

וְעַתָּ֗ה  Therefore  now 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
קְרָ֨א  proclaim 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
נָ֜א  now 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
בְּאָזְנֵ֤י  in  the  hearing 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, fdc
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
הָעָם֙  of  the  people 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
לֵאמֹ֔ר  saying 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
מִֽי־  who  [is] 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
יָרֵ֣א  fearful 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: יָרֵא  
Sense: fearing, reverent, afraid.
וְחָרֵ֔ד  and  afraid 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: חָרֵד  
Sense: trembling, fearful, afraid.
יָשֹׁ֥ב  let  him  turn 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
וְיִצְפֹּ֖ר  and  depart  at  once 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: צָפַר  
Sense: (Qal) to go early, depart early.
מֵהַ֣ר  from  Mount 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.
הַגִּלְעָ֑ד  Gilead 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: גִּלְעָד  
Sense: a mountainous region bounded on the west by the Jordan, on the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by Moab and Ammon; sometimes called ‘Mount Gilead’ or the ‘land of Gilead’ or just ‘Gilead’.
וַיָּ֣שָׁב  And  returned 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
הָעָ֗ם  the  people 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
עֶשְׂרִ֤ים  twenty 
Parse: Number, common plural
Root: עֶשְׂרִים  
Sense: twenty, twentieth.
וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙  and  two 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, md
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
אֶ֔לֶף  thousand 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: אֶלֶף 
Sense: a thousand.
וַעֲשֶׂ֥רֶת  and  ten 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, masculine singular construct
Root: עֶשֶׂר 
Sense: ten.
אֲלָפִ֖ים  thousand 
Parse: Number, masculine plural
Root: אֶלֶף 
Sense: a thousand.
נִשְׁאָֽרוּ  remained 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: שָׁאַר  
Sense: to remain, be left over, be left behind.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation