Judg 6:11 | NET2full | STEP | The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite . He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress so he could hide it from the Midianites .

‏ Judges 6:11

11 The angel of the Lord ^{▼▼sn The angel of the Lord is also mentioned in Judg 2:1.} came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon ^{▼▼tn Heb “Now Gideon his son….” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.} was threshing ^{▼▼tn Heb “beating out.”} wheat in a winepress ^{▼▼sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.} so he could hide it from the Midianites. ^{▼▼tn Heb “Midian.”}