Judges 6:20

And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) The angel of God.—Here alone in the chapter called “the angel of Elohim” and not “of Jehovah.”

Upon this rock.—Rather, upon yonder crag. The living rock (Exodus 20:22) served well as an altar.

Pour out the broth.—Comp. Genesis 35:14; Exodus 30:9; 1Kings 18:34. In the first of these instances the “drink offering” is used as a libation; in the last Elijah pours the sea-water on the sacrifice, to show the impossibility of any deception. In 2 Maccabees 1:20-36 Nehemiah pours the “thick water,” called “Naphthai,” on the sacrifice, and when the sun shone “there was a great fire kindled, so that every man marvelled.”

Benson Commentary

Jdg 6:20. Lay them upon this rock — Undoubtedly it gave Gideon some surprise, to be commanded to dispose thus of the refreshments which he had so hospitably prepared; but as he had doubtless by this time conceived a high opinion of this unknown person, (though he had not discovered him to be an angel,) so he readily obeyed his command.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:11-24 Gideon was a man of a brave, active spirit, yet in obscurity through the times: he is here stirred up to undertake something great. It was very sure that the Lord was with him, when his Angel was with him. Gideon was weak in faith, which made it hard to reconcile the assurances of the presence of God with the distress to which Israel was brought. The Angel answered his objections. He told him to appear and act as Israel's deliverer, there needed no more. Bishop Hall says, While God calls Gideon valiant, he makes him so. God delights to advance the humble. Gideon desires to have his faith confirmed. Now, under the influences of the Spirit, we are not to expect signs before our eyes such as Gideon here desired, but must earnestly pray to God, that if we have found grace in his sight, he would show us a sign in our heart, by the powerful working of his Spirit there, The Angel turned the meat into an offering made by fire; showing that he was not a man who needed meat, but the Son of God, who was to be served and honoured by sacrifice, and who in the fulness of time was to make himself a sacrifice. Hereby a sign was given to Gideon, that he had found grace in God's sight. Ever since man has by sin exposed himself to God's wrath and curse, a message from heaven has been a terror to him, as he scarcely dares to expect good tidings thence. In this world, it is very awful to have any converse with that world of spirits to which we are so much strangers. Gideon's courage failed him. But God spoke peace to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Pour out the broth - Libations were a very ancient form of offering (compare Genesis 35:14). The drink offerings of wine under the Levitical law were poured upon the altar Exodus 30:9. The pouring of the broth upon the rock was evidently of the nature of a libation. It might also, like the water poured by Elijah upon his sacrifice, make the miracle of the fire that consumed the sacrifice more apparent. (Compare 1 Kings 18:33.)

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19-23. Gideon went in, and made ready a kid; … the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot—(See on [219]Ge 18:7). The flesh seems to have been roasted, which is done by cutting it into kobab, that is, into small pieces, fixed on a skewer, and put before the fire. The broth was for immediate use; the other, brought in a hand-basket was intended to be a future supply to the traveller. The miraculous fire that consumed it and the vanishing of the stranger, not by walking, but as a spirit in the fire, filled Gideon with awe. A consciousness of demerit fills the heart of every fallen man at the thought of God, with fear of His wrath; and this feeling was increased by a belief prevalent in ancient times, that whoever saw an angel would forthwith die. The acceptance of Gideon's sacrifice betokened the acceptance of his person; but it required an express assurance of the divine blessing, given in some unknown manner, to restore his comfort and peace of mind.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the angel of God said unto him,.... Instead of sitting down and partaking of the entertainment made for him, he bid him do as follows:

take the flesh, and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock; not as a table to eat it from, but as an altar to offer it upon; and which rock and altar might be typical of Christ, who sanctities every gift, present, and offering of his people: this rock was undoubtedly in sight, and very probably the oak, under which they were, grew upon it, or at the bottom of it, where it was no unusual thing for oaks to grow, Genesis 35:8, but it was upon the top of the rock that these were to be laid, where afterwards an altar was built, Judges 6:26.

and pour out the broth; upon the flesh and cakes, and upon the rock also, which by bringing from his house must have been cool and it became cooler by being poured out, and cooler still by being poured upon a cold rock:

and he did so; he readily obeyed his orders; though he had reason to wonder he should have so ordered the food he brought for his entertainment to be thus made use of; perhaps he might expect that he intended to give him a sign, as he desired, and therefore the more readily, without any objection, complied with his order.

Geneva Study Bible

And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. He is now told to set down the flesh and the cakes upon the rock, and to pour out the broth. The latter act was distinctly sacrificial, though broth is not used elsewhere for a libation. There is reason to think that this verse did not belong to the original form of the narrative; note the terms ‘messenger of God,’ ‘rock’ (a different word from ‘rock’ in Jdg 6:21). At the same time a sentence is required, in view of Jdg 6:21, stating that Gideon set down the meal.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - Lay them upon this rock, as upon an altar, and pour out the broth, as a drink offering or a libation (see Judges 13:19). Judges 6:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The angel of the Lord then commanded him to lay the flesh and the cakes upon a rock close by, and to pour the broth upon it; that is to say, to make use of the rock as an altar for the offering to be presented to the Lord. When he had done this, the angel touched the food with the end of his staff, and fire came out of the rock and consumed the food, and the angel of the Lord vanished out of Gideon's sight. "This rock," i.e., a rocky stone that was lying near. The departure of the angel from his eyes it to be regarded as a sudden disappearance; but the expression does not warrant the assumption that the angel ascended to heaven in this instance, as in Judges 13:19-20, in the flame of the sacrifice.