Judges 6:39 (WEB)

Passage

Gideon said to God, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

Nearby Context

Judges 6:37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.”

Judges 6:38 It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

Judges 6:39 Gideon said to God, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

Judges 6:40 God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "gideon", "said", "anger", "kindled", "against", "speak", "once", and "please". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "gideon" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 38's "It was so for he rose up..." into verse 40's "God did so that night for it...", so "gideon" and "said" 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 "gideon" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.