Judges 7:6

“And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.”
King James Version (KJV)

Other Translations of Judges 7:6

And the number of them that lapped putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed downe vpon their knees to drinke water.
- King James Version (1611) - Compare to scan of original Judges chapter 7

Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water.
- New American Standard Version (1995)

And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
- American Standard Version (1901)

Now the number of those who took up the water with their tongues was three hundred; all the rest of the people went down on their knees to the water.
- Basic English Bible

And the number of them that lapped, with their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men; and all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water.
- Darby Bible

And the number of them that had lapped water, casting it with the hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: and all the rest of the multitude had drunk kneeling.
- Douay Rheims Bible

And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
- Webster's Bible

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.
- World English Bible

And the number of those lapping with their hand unto their mouth is three hundred men, and all the rest of the people have bowed down on their knees to drink water.
- Youngs Literal Bible

And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
- Jewish Publication Society Bible

Earl Bowman's comment on 2021-06-03 09:05:46:

Amen; brother chris.

Chris's comment on 2021-06-03 05:32:49:

In Judges chapter 7, we see that God wanted to reduce the huge number of Gideon's army prior to their attack on the Midianite army, which were beyond number. Gideon had thirty-two thousand men which God determined were too many. That number was reduced to ten thousand when those who were fearful for their lives were given the option to leave the upcoming battle. But this ten thousand was also too many, so God used the manner of drinking of water from the stream.

Those who lapped the water (like a dog), used their palms to scoop up the water & lapped it up from there. The others, put their mouth straight into the stream & therefore were able to quench their thirst by drinking a large amount of water. Those who used their palms numbered only three hundred which means that nine thousand seven hundred men were then released from duty.

I believe that the reason for the Lord initiating this method was to separate those who were not fully absorbed in quenching their thirst from those who would rather put their own physical needs first. The former group bent over & used one hand to bring the water to their mouth whilst their other hand held their weapon at the ready & their eyes observed the situation around them.

The other group went down on their knees, hands supporting their bodies & were focussed in drinking rather than on the possibility of the enemy being near to them. This demonstrated that those three hundred men who were selected were true soldiers ready at an instant to any sound or movement of the enemy. As well, the Lord wanted to show to Gideon & his now small army, that numbers don't matter with the Lord (verse 2) - when the Lord calls His people to action, He also equips & goes before us to bring us the victory. And this shows without doubt that it is only the Lord Who hath done this & not because of numbers or man's strength.

grcae's comment on 2021-06-01 23:55:52:

why like a dog to drink the water

judges 7;5

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