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Judges 7 · a question people ask

Why did the LORD choose the men who lapped?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say. It tells what the LORD said, "Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, like a dog laps, you shall set him by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink" (7:5), and what happened: "The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water" (7:6). It says the choice was his: "I will test them for you there" (7:4), and "whoever I tell you, ‘This shall not go with you,’ shall not go" (7:4). It gives no reason why lapping was the mark. The only reason it gives for cutting the army at all is in 7:2: "lest Israel brag against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’". Reasons people suggest for the lapping, such as the lappers being more watchful, aren't in the text, so none is given here.

The verses

“The LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel brag against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”
Judges 7:2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Judges 7

Judges 7: The sword of the LORD and of Gideon

The LORD gave his own reason for cutting Gideon's army to three hundred: "lest Israel brag against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’" (7:2). The three hundred held torches and trumpets, and the swords that struck that night were the ones the LORD "set… against his fellow" (7:20, 7:22).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions