And it was so (Hebrew wayehi ken) marks this as a high point in the story and may be a deliberate allusion to the creation story in Gen 1. In that account this clause occurs at the end of each day of God’s creative work (Gen 1.7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30). Translators can follow Good News Translation‘s more dynamic rendering: “That is exactly what happened.” Or they can try to imitate the style of the original text by using the same clause used in Gen 1. Anyone reading or hearing this story will take note that the LORD did indeed do as Gideon requested.

When he rose early next morning renders an independent clause in Hebrew, which is literally “And he woke up the next day.” For the Hebrew verb rendered rose early, see the comments on verse 6.28.

And squeezed the fleece: In many languages Gideon will first have to “pick up the fleece” or “take the fleece in his hands” before he can squeeze it. Squeezed means “pressed down on.” Here this verb probably indicates that Gideon took the fleece in both hands and put pressure on it or twisted it until water came out.

He wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water: In Hebrew this clause begins with a waw conjunction, which can be rendered “and” (Good News Translation) or omitted as in Revised Standard Version here. The Hebrew verb rendered wrung means “drained [out of].” Some languages may only have one verb for squeezed and wrung, in which case one verb will suffice (so Contemporary English Version). To fill a bowl with water means the water that he squeezed out of the fleece could have filled a bowl, not that Gideon actually did this. For bowl see the comments on verse 5.25. The size of the bowl is not given but the point is that there was a significant amount of water, enough to convince Gideon that the LORD had intervened. Thus Gideon had proof that he was the one chosen by God to save Israel. Contemporary English Version serves as a good model here, saying “He squeezed out enough water to fill a bowl.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• And that is just what happened! Gideon got up the next morning, picked up the fleece, and squeezed out enough water to fill a whole bowl.

• And it was so. When Gideon got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and the water he pressed from it could have filled a whole bowl.

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 .