Very abruptly, Gideon and his men appear on the scene and go out to battle.

But the Spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon: Like other “saviors” before and after him, Gideon is endowed with power from the LORD (verse 3.10; verse 11.29; verse 13.25; verse 14.6, 19; verse 15.14). But renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, which could be expressing the contrast between the strong and numerous armies of the enemy and the single man, Gideon. However, many versions omit this conjunction here (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). New International Version says “Then” and New Jerusalem Bible has “And.” For the Spirit of the LORD, see the comments on verse 3.10. Took possession of Gideon is literally “clothed Gideon.” New Jerusalem Bible follows the Hebrew quite closely with “clothed Gideon around.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and New American Bible are similar with “enveloped Gideon.” In the book of Judges this verb occurs only here with the Spirit of the LORD as the subject. In the other passages where the LORD’s spirit takes possession of a judge, other verbs are used. It is important to respect the wording in each particular context by finding different expressions for each one. If at all possible, translators should try to keep the figurative language here, but if this is not possible, a more general expression will need to be used. For example, Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version say “took control of Gideon.”

And he sounded the trumpet: See the comments on verse 3.27. After Gideon is empowered by the spirit of Yahweh, he calls warriors to battle by blowing a ram’s horn. We could say “Then Gideon blew the battle horn” or “and Gideon blew his horn to call the men to battle.”

And the Abiezrites were called out to follow him: Gideon was from the clan of the Abiezrites (see verse 6.11), so they were certainly the group in that area. They were the first to respond. This clause is literally “and Abiezer was called together after him.” In this context the name “Abiezer” refers to “the men in the Abiezer clan” (Contemporary English Version; similarly Good News Translation). The passive verb were called out may be better rendered as an active one. For example, New Jerusalem Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh say that these men “rallied” behind Gideon. To follow him (also Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version) is a good rendering for the literal phrase “after him.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• The power of Yahweh filled Gideon and he blew the war trumpet to call the men from the Abiezer clan to follow him.

• The power of the LORD came upon Gideon. Then he blew the war horn, calling the Abiezrites to battle, and they rallied around him.

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 .