The site where the Angel of the Lord appeared is known as Euphrathah (or Ophrah in the Synod translation), located in the territory of Joash, the father of Ezri. Ezri, a descendant of Manasseh (Hab. 17:2, 1 Chr. 7:18), lends his name to this lineage, and Joash, as the current patriarch, serves as the head of Ezri's family. As a member of the Manasseh tribe, Joash resided within a city allocated to this tribe, Euphrathah, situated in the western region of its territory, near the Jordan (Judges 7:24), to the north of Ephraim. The precise location of this city remains uncertain, yet it should not be confused with similarly named locations in the territory of Benjamin (Judg. 18:23) or Judah (Bethlehem Euphrathah in Micah 5:2).
At the time of the angel's appearance, Gideon, son of Joash, was engaged in threshing wheat on the threshing floor—more accurately understood from the Greek text (έν ληνῷ) and Hebrew, indicating he was not in an open area but rather in a concealed winnowing pit, a space typically used for pressing or trampling grapes, which had been hollowed out in rock or excavated in soil, often reinforced with stones. Gideon chose this sheltered location to discreetly complete his task, evading the Midianite threat. The term "flee" can imply either Gideon's desire to escape from the foe or his intent to conceal himself and his work from the roving Midianite raiders; the latter interpretation aligns more closely with the synodical translation of hiding.
How did Gideon carry out the threshing? He adapted his method to suit the confined space. While traditional threshing on a flat surface might utilize toothed wheels or animal hooves, neither was possible in the winnowing pit. Therefore, Gideon struck the grain from the ears with a stick (ῥαβδίζων), a common practice among the impoverished when resources for threshing were limited (Ruth 2:17).
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