The Meaning of Judges 7:20 Explained

Judges 7:20

KJV: And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

YLT: and the three detachments blow with trumpets, and break the pitchers, and keep hold with their left hand on the lamps, and with their right hand on the trumpets to blow, and they cry, 'The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.'

Darby: And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!"

ASV: And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the three  companies  blew  the trumpets,  and brake  the pitchers,  and held  the lamps  in their left  hands,  and the trumpets  in their right  hands  to blow  [withal]: and they cried,  The sword  of the LORD,  and of Gideon. 

What does Judges 7:20 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 7:9-23 - The Sword Of Jehovah And Of Gideon
Gideon asked for the sign of the fleece, but God, without his asking, gave him that of the barley-cake. It was only barley-bread, the cheapest and commonest kind of food, but it overthrew a tent. Gideon was quick to recognize the symbol of his weakness and helplessness, but he recognized also the presage of victory. Lying there in the moonless night, with his head toward that tent, he worshiped and hastened back to his camp. We remember what Jesus made of barley-loaves. See John 6:9; John 6:13.
The blare of the trumpets, the breaking of the pitchers, the flashing of the lights, and the shouting from three sides of the camp startled the sleeping host into panic. Surely this scene was in Paul's thought when he said that God's light had shone forth on the midnight darkness of that age; and then confessed that the light was contained in the earthen vessel of mortality, "that the excellency of the power might be of God." Let us not be too greatly disturbed when the sorrows and persecutions of earth break up our peace and strength-this is the breaking of the earthen vessel. Our business must be to see that the torch burns within, 2 Corinthians 4:6, etc. [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 7:20 mean?

And blew three the companies the trumpets and broke the pitchers and they held in hands their left the torches and in hands their right the trumpets for blowing and they cried the sword of Yahweh and of Gideon
וַֽ֠יִּתְקְעוּ שְׁלֹ֨שֶׁת הָרָאשִׁ֥ים בַּשּֽׁוֹפָרוֹת֮ וַיִּשְׁבְּר֣וּ הַכַּדִּים֒ וַיַּחֲזִ֤יקוּ בְיַד־ שְׂמאוֹלָם֙‪‬ בַּלַּפִּדִ֔ים וּבְיַ֨ד־ יְמִינָ֔ם הַשּׁוֹפָר֖וֹת לִתְק֑וֹעַ וַֽיִּקְרְא֔וּ חֶ֥רֶב לַֽיהוָ֖ה וּלְגִדְעֽוֹן

וַֽ֠יִּתְקְעוּ  And  blew 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: תֹּוקְעִים 
Sense: to blow, clap, strike, sound, thrust, give a blow, blast.
שְׁלֹ֨שֶׁת  three 
Parse: Number, masculine singular construct
Root: מִשְׁלֹשׁ 
Sense: three, triad.
הָרָאשִׁ֥ים  the  companies 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
בַּשּֽׁוֹפָרוֹת֮  the  trumpets 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שֹׁופָר  
Sense: horn, ram’s horn.
וַיִּשְׁבְּר֣וּ  and  broke 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁבוּר 
Sense: to break, break in pieces.
הַכַּדִּים֒  the  pitchers 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine plural
Root: כַּד  
Sense: jar, large jar (portable).
וַיַּחֲזִ֤יקוּ  and  they  held 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: חָזַק  
Sense: to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute, be sore.
בְיַד־  in  hands 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
שְׂמאוֹלָם֙‪‬  their  left 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: שְׂמֹאל  
Sense: the left, the left hand, the left side.
בַּלַּפִּדִ֔ים  the  torches 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: לַפִּיד  
Sense: torch.
וּבְיַ֨ד־  and  in  hands 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
יְמִינָ֔ם  their  right 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: יָמִין  
Sense: right, right hand, right side.
הַשּׁוֹפָר֖וֹת  the  trumpets 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שֹׁופָר  
Sense: horn, ram’s horn.
לִתְק֑וֹעַ  for  blowing 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: תֹּוקְעִים 
Sense: to blow, clap, strike, sound, thrust, give a blow, blast.
וַֽיִּקְרְא֔וּ  and  they  cried 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
חֶ֥רֶב  the  sword 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרֶב  
Sense: sword, knife.
לַֽיהוָ֖ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וּלְגִדְעֽוֹן  and  of  Gideon 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: גִּדְעֹון  
Sense: youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, fifth judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites.