This verse concludes the selection of the Israelite soldiers for the battle against the Midianites. The number of those chosen is announced. It is still not clear here how those selected differ from those not chosen. In the next verse the LORD gives new instructions for the battle.

And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men: God chooses 300 soldiers for the battle. Good News Translation and most other versions omit the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And. The number of those that lapped follows the Hebrew closely. In some languages this clause may be rendered simply “the men who lapped.” For lapped see verse 7.5.

Putting their hands to their mouths is literally “with their hand to their mouth.” This phrase poses serious problems for interpreters and translators. In verse 7.5 it is specified that this group of people are those who lap the water with their tongues “as a dog laps.” Certainly dogs do not bring their hands to their mouths to drink, though it is possible to imagine people lapping water from their hands. Like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, many other versions retain the Hebrew text, which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives an {A} rating. For example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders this whole sentence as “Now those who ‘lapped’ the water into their mouths by hand numbered three hundred.” Contemporary English Version is similar with “Three hundred men scooped up water in their hands and lapped it.” New Revised Standard Version moves this difficult phrase to the end of 7.5. Though many scholars support this viewpoint, it seems better to follow New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Contemporary English Version, which provide an understandable rendering without changing the Hebrew text.

Three hundred men is a very small army, but the number “thirty” and its multiples play an important role in the stories of Gideon and Samson. This is the first time in this episode that the Hebrew word for men is used, rather than the more general word for people, which appears again in the next sentence. It is possible that the narrator is saying these are “the real men,” but there is no evidence in the text for this interpretation. Various constructions can be used here, for example, “There were 300 men who lapped…” and “The men who lapped … were 300.”

But all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water: The remaining soldiers went down on their knees at the side of the stream to drink. But is a good rendering of the Hebrew waw conjunction, since it introduces a contrast here. All the rest of the people refers to the remaining twenty-one thousand seven hundred warriors. Knelt down is literally “kneeled down on their knees” (see verse 7.5). To drink water is a literal rendering of the Hebrew. In some languages water may be redundant. One possible model for this whole clause is “but all the other warriors knelt to drink.”

Besides the difficulty of distinguishing the two groups here, it is not clear why the LORD favors those who lap like dogs over those who kneel down to drink. One possible explanation is that those who lap the water with their hands may still be standing, so that they are alert and ready for battle. In contrast, those who kneel not only take their time, but they are also in a position of weakness if the enemy should launch a surprise attack. Others suggest the reference to kneeling may allude to the Israelites bowing down to Canaanite gods, though this is highly speculative. We note that once again the word hands is associated with those who are chosen to deliver Israel, in keeping with its role throughout the book.

Some translation models for this verse are:

• Those who lapped the water with their hands totaled three hundred men, while all the rest knelt down to drink.

• Three hundred men lapped the water, bringing their hands to their mouths. But all the rest went down on their knees to drink.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .