This verse brings us to the next step in the judges’ cycle. The Israelites sinned against Yahweh, and he gave them over to their enemies (in this case, the Midianites) under whom they suffered terribly. Finally, the Israelites cried for help to the LORD.

And Israel was brought very low because of Midian: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And could introduce a result or consequence or begin a kind of summary statement. A good rendering is “Thus” (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). This clause tells of Israel’s sad plight. The singular word Israel may be rendered “the Israelites” (New International Version). The Hebrew verb rendered was brought … low means “be low,” and by extension, “become small” or “become insignificant.” Its root is closely linked with the idea of poverty, as in New Revised Standard Version “was … impoverished.” But here the verb does not refer just to Israel’s physical state, but also to the depression and humiliation the Israelites experienced, since all their means of livelihood had been destroyed. In many languages this verb may be rendered “was brought down.” It is emphasized in Hebrew by the word for very. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh captures both the literal and figurative meaning when it says “Israel was reduced to utter misery by the Midianites” (similarly New American Bible). Because of Midian (literally “from faces of Midian”) indicates the source of Israel’s problems. It is the same phrase used in verse 6.2 (see comments there). Some versions restructure this clause and cast Midian as the subject, for example, “Thus, Midian brought Israel to great distress” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “The Midianites took almost everything that belonged to the Israelites” (Contemporary English Version). Another possible model is “The Midianites brought the Israelites very low [stripping them of everything they had].”

And the people of Israel cried for help to the LORD: This is a key clause in the book of Judges that always occurs in the same context (see verse 3.9, verse 15). When the people are in great distress and are seriously oppressed by their enemies, they turn to the LORD. Many versions render the Hebrew waw conjunction here as Revised Standard Version has done with and, but this may be weak in some languages. The connector “Then” (New Living Translation]) may show better that the Israelites’ cry for help is a direct consequence of their oppression. The people of Israel is literally “the sons/children of Israel” (see verse 6.1). For the Hebrew verb rendered cried for help, see the comments on verse 3.9, where it is translated “cried.” Translators must be careful to render this clause in the same way each time it appears in this book, because it underlines a very important theme. Good News Translation does not translate it here, apparently because it is repeated at the beginning of the next verse and seems redundant. However, it is better to repeat it for emphasis if possible.

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 .