What Does Judges 6:31 Mean in the King James?
And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse turns deliverance upside down: Baal’s worshipers are asked to deliver the power they claim can deliver them.
THE MEANING
The verse exposes the contradiction in devotion that must rescue its god: the people are ready to plead Baal’s case and deliver him, while he is challenged to contend for himself. Joash then threatens death for Baal’s advocate, turning the crowd’s lethal demand back on its defender. The question remains sharp now: if the supposed source of deliverance needs saving, what can it deliver?
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A god can be truly powerful even when people must defend and rescue him.
THE ROOT
תּוֹשִׁיעוּן
tôšîʿûn
GROWS FROM
י־ש־ע
y-sh-ʿ
Deliver, rescue, bring to safety.
The root behind “save” also appears in יְשׁוּעָה (yeshuah, deliverance) and יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua, a name rooted in deliverance). Here the crowd is asked to deliver Baal, reversing the expected direction: the supposed source of deliverance becomes the one in need.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuah: Deliverance, rescue.
יְשׁוּעָה
This is the same root family as the verb used when the crowd is asked whether it will deliver Baal.
Yeshua: A name rooted in the idea of deliverance.
יֵשׁוּעַ
The name shares the root that this verse applies ironically to Baal: deliverance is what his worshipers are asked to provide for him.
יָרִיב
yārîv
GROWS FROM
ר־י־ב
r-y-b
Contend, dispute, bring a case.
“Plead” can sound like speaking on someone’s behalf, but ריב carries the force of entering a dispute or case. Its repetition makes Baal’s divinity the issue under contention: will people argue his case, or will he contend for himself?
ALSO GROWS
riv: A dispute, case, or contention.
רִיב
This is the root’s core sense, making the crowd’s defense of Baal sound like a case they must carry for him.
merivah: Quarreling or contention.
מְרִיבָה
This related form shows the same root can name an open conflict, as the crowd’s accusation becomes a contest over who can act.
THE PATTERN
What must be carried, defended, and rescued by its worshipers cannot act as the source of their deliverance.
They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;THE THREAD
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.The Hebrew root י־ש־ע (y-sh-ʿ, deliver) names the LORD’s deliverance here, while Judges applies that same root to the crowd’s offer to rescue Baal. The contrast sharpens Joash’s question: the source of deliverance is not the one who needs rescuing.
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