And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

The angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said: The Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men.

and the messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto him, and saith unto him, 'Jehovah is with thee, O mighty one of valour.'

And the angel of the Lord came before his eyes, and said to him, The Lord is with you, O man of war.

The angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, 'The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.'

Thou mighty man of valor - Known to God to be such, though as yet not known to be such either by himself or his countrymen (compare Luke 1:28, Luke 1:30).

The Lord is with thee - "The Word of the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." - Targum. It appears that Gideon had proved himself, on former occasions, to be a man of courage and personal prowess; and this would naturally excite the confidence of his countrymen. God chooses for his work those instruments which, in the course of his operations in nature and providence, he has qualified for his purpose. The instruments thus chosen are generally unlikely, but they will be ever found the best qualified for the Divine employment.

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him,.... He stayed some time under the oak, and Gideon being busy in threshing, took no notice of him wherefore he came and stood before him, in his sight:
and said unto him, the Lord is with thee; the gracious presence of God was with Gideon while he was threshing, who very probably was sending up ejaculations to heaven, on account of the distressed case of Israel, and was deep in meditation about the affairs of the people of God, and contriving how to deliver them; or the angel might mean himself, who was no other than Jehovah, the eternal Word of God, who was present with him, and spake unto him; and so the Targum,"my Word is thy help:"
thou mighty man of valour; who very probably was a stout man in body, and of a courageous mind naturally, and might at this instant have an increase both of bodily strength and greatness of soul; or, however, this was said to animate and encourage him to do what he was about to be sent to do.

While he was thus engaged the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and addressed him in these words: "Jehovah (is) with thee, thou brave hero." This address contained the promise that the Lord would be with Gideon, and that he would prove himself a mighty hero through the strength of the Lord. This promise was to be a guarantee to him of strength and victory in his conflict with the Midianites.

Is with thee - That is, will assist thee against thine enemies. Man of valour - To whom I have given strength and courage for this end.