Judges 6:17

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Gideon said to him,“If you really are pleased with me, then give me a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו אִם־נָ֛א מָצָ֥אתִי חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָ וְעָשִׂ֤יתָ לִּי֙ א֔וֹת שָׁאַתָּ֖ה מְדַבֵּ֥ר עִמִּֽי׃

Transliteration

And wayyōʾmer to him, if-nāʾ māṣāʾtî ḥēn in ʿênêkā, and weʿāśîtā for me ʾôt that you medabbēr with me.

Grammar Details

• *wayyōʾmer*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he said
• *nāʾ*: particle of entreaty - please/now
• *māṣāʾtî*: qal perfect, 1st person singular - I have found
• *ḥēn*: masculine singular noun - favor/grace
• *ʿênêkā*: dual noun construct with 2nd masculine singular suffix - your eyes
• *weʿāśîtā*: waw-consecutive + qal perfect, 2nd masculine singular - and you will make/do
• *ʾôt*: feminine singular noun - sign
• *medabbēr*: piel participle, masculine singular - speaking

Word Meanings

• *nāʾ*: please/now/I pray
• *māṣāʾtî*: I have found/discovered/obtained
• *ḥēn*: favor/grace/approval
• *weʿāśîtā*: and you will make/do/perform
• *ʾôt*: sign/token/proof

Referenced Verses

• Exod 33:13 : 13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight. And see that this nation is your people.”
• Ps 86:17 : 17 Show me evidence of your favor! Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed, for you, O LORD, will help me and comfort me.
• Isa 7:11 : 11 “Ask for a confirming sign from the LORD your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.”
• Isa 38:7-8 : 7 Isaiah replied,“This is your sign from the LORD confirming that the LORD will do what he has said: 8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” And then the shadow went back ten steps.
• Gen 15:8-9 : 8 But Abram said,“O Sovereign LORD, by what can I know that I am to possess it?” 9 The LORD said to him,“Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram,“Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.
• Exod 4:1-9 : 1 The Source of Sufficiency Moses answered again,“And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say,‘The LORD has not appeared to you’?” 2 The LORD said to him,“What is that in your hand?” He said,“A staff.” 3 The LORD said,“Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses,“Put out your hand and grab it by the tail”– so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand– 5 “that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 The LORD also said to him,“Put your hand into your robe.” So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out– there was his hand, leprous like snow! 7 He said,“Put your hand back into your robe.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe– there it was, restored like the rest of his skin! 8 “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign. 9 And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
• Exod 33:16 : 16 For how will it be known then that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?”
• Judg 6:36-40 : 36 Gideon said to God,“If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. 37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it is dry, then I will be sure that you will use me to deliver Israel, as you promised.” 38 The LORD did as he asked. When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. 39 Gideon said to God,“Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.” 40 That night God did as he asked. Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
• 2 Kgs 20:8-9 : 8 Hezekiah had said to Isaiah,“What is the confirming sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the LORD’s temple the day after tomorrow?” 9 Isaiah replied,“This is your sign from the LORD confirming that the LORD will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?” 10 Hezekiah answered,“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it to go back ten steps.” 11 Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and the LORD made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.