‘ And he said to him, “Oh Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Look, my family is the poorest in Manasseh. And I am the least in my father's house” '
(Compare Exodus 4:10; Exodus 4:13). The word for ‘Lord' is vocalised differently here compared with its vocalisation in Judges 6:13, indicating a more exalted manner of address. He now knew to Whom he was speaking. But he did not feel competent to save Israel. Dreaming about it was fine. But who was he to do such a thing?
“My family (or ‘clan”) is the poorest in Manasseh.' Not necessarily literally, but possibly poorest in numbers. But this was typical Near Eastern self-humbling and exaggeration. He was saying ‘we are but humble and poor before You, not counting for anything, even compared with our fellow tribesmen'.
He was being overly self deprecating. His own family were in fact comparatively wealthy (see verse 11 -'that pertained to Joash'; Judges 6:27 -'ten of his servants'), but not compared with God.
“I am the least in my father” s house'. Again deliberate self depreciation. If he had had elder brothers they were mainly dead (Judges 8:19). Consider how the loquacious Moses could speak of himself in a similar way (Exodus 4:10). Basically he was pointing out that if he were to do this he would need to be sure that Yahweh was going to be with him, for he did not have the capability to do it on his own. The word for ‘family' is eleph, often translated thousand. It thus means ‘my group, my unit, my clan'.