"But the spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon"

The heading is a phrase from Judges 6:34, NSRV translation. The Hebrew word that has been translated into "took possession" is labash and means to put on, wear, clothe or be clothed. In other words, the Spirit is wearing Gideon. The NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible comments on this verse:

According to the normal use of this form of this Hebrew verb (“to clothe”), the Hebrew reads “the Spirit of the LORD put on Gideon,” suggesting that the Spirit “wears” Gideon, i.e., the Spirit is inside him, rather than Gideon “wearing” the Spirit, as an external force. This raises the question whether the Spirit functions as an internal or external force. 

The question about the Spirit functioning as an internal or external force is worth pondering. Especially considering the fact that there are other passages of scripture describing the Spirit of the Lord coming or rushing upon someone. There are multiple examples of that also in the book of Judges, like 3:10, 11:29, 14:6 and 15:14. In these examples, the spirit is portrayed as more of an external force. There are also other scriptures using the labash or the clothing metaphor to describe righteous people enwrapped in the divine, which is the opposite of what happens with Gideon. Clothed in glory or in the robe of righteousness, etc. is a topic that has been discussed frequently on this blog. See for instance this post with links to related posts. These examples would describe the spirit as more of an external force, so Judges 6:34 creates an interesting twist. Like Gideon, we can become worthy of becoming the clothing of the spirit, something that he feels comfortable wearing!

The phrase from Judges 6:34 is almost unique in the Old Testament. I found one other example.

And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. (2 Chronicles 24:20)

In the KJV it has been translated as "came upon", in the NSRV it is "took possession of" like in Judges, but the underlying Hebrew is labesh so a more accurate translation would be that the Spirit of God put on Zechariah. The idea of the Spirit inside of us instead of upon us is not unique in these two verses in 2 Chronicles and Judges, though. But it is usually portrayed as the Spirit dwelling in us rather than wearing us. 

And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples (Helaman 4:24)

The difference between our bodies/temples and clothes are not as big as we might think, not to the ancient Israelite mind. For instance, in Job 10:11, Job says that God has clothed (Hebr. labash) him in skin and flesh, i.e. given him a mortal body. There was a symbolic connection between your body, your clothes and your dwelling place. The Savior was sometimes described as dwelling in a tabernacle, meaning his mortal body. Also, Levite priests wore special garments when entering into the ancient tabernacle that were made of the same fabric as the tabernacle itself. They were also changed when the priest moved from the holy place into the holy of holies, emulating the different fabrics of the tabernacle. 

Back to the question about the Spirit as an internal or external force. The obvious answer is both. 

43 And it came to pass that when they cast their eyes about, and saw that the cloud of darkness was dispersed from overshadowing them, behold, they saw that they were encircled about, yea every soul, by a pillar of fire.

44 And Nephi and Lehi were in the midst of them; yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire, yet it did harm them not, neither did it take hold upon the walls of the prison; and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.

45 And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words. (Helaman 5)

In this example the fire was encircling them from the outside and filling them inside. A similar example from D&C including both "round about" and "in your hearts".

And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. (D&C 84:88)

 

"Deliver" and "hand"

In light of my previous post connecting consecration and the phrase "delivered into [their] hands," I decided to revisit scriptures which use this phrase.

As is often the case, we see positive and negative examples. 

Negative Context

In some cases, God allows the righteous to be delivered into the hands of the wicked, for example:

1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. (Judges 6)

We also find this phrase many times in the New Testament, almost always in reference to Christ being delivered into the hands of the wicked to be slain.

Here is one such example:

31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. (Mark 9)

See also Luke 9:44, Luke 24:7, and Acts 2:23.

Interestingly, this concept is a part of the first secret combination, formed between Satan and Cain:

29 And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands. (Moses 5)

On the positive side, we see many examples of the righteous being delivered out of the hands of their enemies, for example:

7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;

8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.

10 It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.

11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood... (Psalm 144)

Here is another example from the Book of Mormon:

4 And behold, I say unto you, they were delivered out of the hands of the people of king Noah, by the mercy and power of God.

5 And behold, after that, they were brought into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land, and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this land also. (Alma 5)

See also Alma 57:35.

In another positive context, we see examples of the wicked being delivered into the hands of the righteous:

3 But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith. (Alma 44)

See also 1 Samuel 23:4.

Is there not a type in this thing?

8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (Exodus 3)

It is very interesting to me that in order to occupy the promised land God gave them, the children of Israel had to conquer so many other peoples.  For me, this resembles the latter day gathering. In the last dispensation, that same Jehovah "[came] down to deliver [us] out of the hand" of worldly powers who seek our destruction. He does this by keeping His promise to restore the everlasting covenant and send it forth by the mouth of angels to all the nations of the earth.

In my next post, we'll take a closer look at an unusual phrase in the Old Testament which is quoted by the Savior in the Book of Mormon: "sprinkle many nations."