And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.

He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you.

And he said, |They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.|

And he saith, 'My brethren, sons of my mother, they; Jehovah liveth, if ye had kept them alive, I had not slain you.'

And he said, They were my brothers, my mother's sons: by the life of the Lord, if you had kept them safe, I would not put you to death.

He answered them: "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had preserved them, I would not kill you."

The sons of my mother - A much closer relation than that of brothers by the father only. (Compare Genesis 43:29; Deuteronomy 13:6; Psalm 69:8). This is the only hint preserved of the transaction. We cannot say exactly when the slaughter of Gideon's brethren on Mount Tabor took place, whether before the outbreak of the war Judges 6:33, or in the retreat and flight of the Midianites Judges 7:22.

And he said, They [were] my brethren, [even] the (k) sons of my mother: [as] the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
(k) We all came from the same womb: therefore I will be revenged.

And he said, they were my brethren, even the sons of my mother,.... His brethren by his mother's side, but not by his father's side; or the phrase
the sons of my mother is added, to show that he did not mean brethren in a large sense, as all the Israelites were, but in a strict sense, being so nearly related as his mother's children:
as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you; for not being Canaanites, he was not obliged by the law of God to put them to death, and by the law of nations, as they had surrendered themselves, and were made prisoners of war, they ought to have been saved; but as they appeared to be murderers, and had slain the Israelites in cold blood, they deserved to die; and the persons they had slain being Gideon's brethren, he was the avenger of blood, and it became him to put them to death.

They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother--That is, uterine brothers; but, in all countries where polygamy prevails, "the son of my mother" implies a closeness of relationship and a warmth of affection never awakened by the looser term, "brother."

I would not slay - For being not Canaanites, he was not obliged to kill them; but they having killed his brethren, and that in cool blood, he was by law the avenger of their blood.