And God did so that night: And renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, which may be better translated “So” (New Living Translation). A particle marking a climax can also be used here, such as (et) voilà! in French. God did so parallels “it was so” in verse 6.38, with the difference that here God is specifically mentioned. However, he does not speak to answer Gideon. He simply does what Gideon asks. The word so refers to what God did. In some languages it may be simpler to say “God did it.” However, in other languages a longer expression can be used, for example, “God did that very thing” (Good News Translation) or “God did just what Gideon requested.” The phrase that night occurs at the end of this clause in Hebrew, but many versions put it at the beginning (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New American Bible). This clause may be rendered “And that very night, God did exactly as Gideon asked” or “That same night, God granted Gideon’s request.”

For it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew: See the comments on verse 6.37. This last half of the verse forms a chiasm or X structure.

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 .