Judges 6:2
◄  Judges 6:2  ►
New International Version (©2011)
Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.

New Living Translation (©2007)
The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

English Standard Version (©2001)
And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
and they oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Midian's control predominated throughout Israel, and because of Midian the Israelis went out to find temporary hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and fortified places.

NET Bible (©2006)
The Midianites overwhelmed Israel. Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Midian's power was too strong for Israel. The Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, caves, and mountain strongholds [to protect themselves] from Midian.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds.

American King James Version
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

American Standard Version
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they were grievously oppressed by them. And they made themselves dens and eaves in the mountains, and strong holds to resist.

Darby Bible Translation
And the hand of Mid'ian prevailed over Israel; and because of Mid'ian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves and the strongholds.

English Revised Version
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strong holds.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

World English Bible
The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

Young's Literal Translation
and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, from the presence of Midian have the sons of Israel made for themselves the flowings which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:1-6 Israel's sin was renewed, and Israel's troubles were repeated. Let all that sin expect to suffer. The Israelites hid themselves in dens and caves; such was the effect of a guilty conscience. Sin dispirits men. The invaders left no food for Israel, except what was taken into the caves. They prepared that for Baal with which God should have been served, now God justly sends an enemy to take it away in the season thereof.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - The dens... and caves. In the writer's time certain hiding-places called by the above names were traditionally known as the places where the Israelites took refuge during the terrible Midianite invasion. The limestone hills of Palestine abounded in such caves.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel,.... They were too strong for them, and overcame them, and brought them into subjection to them, and no wonder, when the Lord delivered them into their hand:

and because of the Midianites; because of their usage of them, their manner of coming upon them yearly, and pillaging and plundering their substance, as after related:

the children of Israel made them dens which are in the mountains; the word for "dens" has the signification of light in it, and are so called either by an antiphrasis, because they were dark, or, as Kimchi thinks, because they had a window at the top of them, which let in the light (a) but Ben Gersom conjectures they were torches, which gave a great light, and when they that held them saw from the mountains the Midianites, by these torches they made a signal to the Israelites to take care and hide themselves and their substance:

and caves, and strong holds; the caves were for the poorer sort, and the strong holds for the richer to retire to with their goods; though, according to Jarchi, the latter were no other than fences they made in woods, by cutting down trees, and setting them round about them, perhaps much the same as the thickets, 1 Samuel 13:6.

(a) So David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 90. 3. or "because men flowed and flocked to them for safety"; so Buxtorf.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. made … dens … in the mountains and caves—not, of course, excavating them, for they were already, but making them fit for habitation.

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Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Midian Oppresses Israel
1And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 3And 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; …

Hebrews 11:38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
Judges 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.
1 Samuel 13:6 When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.
Jeremiah 41:9 Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.
Jeremiah 48:28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.