Judges 6:15 (LSB)

Passage

But he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

Nearby Context

Judges 6:13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Judges 6:14 Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

Judges 6:15 But he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

Judges 6:16 But Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down Midian as one man.”

Judges 6:17 So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then do a sign for me that it is You who speak with me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "lord", "shall", "save", "israel", "behold", "clan", and "least". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "Then Yahweh turned to him and said..." into verse 16's "But Yahweh said to him Surely I...", so "said" and "lord" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.