1 Kings 19:6

1Ki 19:6 And he looked, and, behold, [there was] a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

Ver. 6. There was a cake baken on the coals.] Heb., A cake of coals; that is, hot out of the oven. The angel was not long in bringing of it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 6. A cake baken on the coals] All this seems to have been supernaturally provided.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) And laid him down.—There is a pathetic touch in the description of the prophet, wearied and disheartened, as caring not to eat sufficiently, and glad, after a morsel eaten, to forget himself again in sleep.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. and behold, there was] The R.V., following the Hebrew order, puts ‘at his head’ immediately after these words.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baked on the coals,.... Just took off the coals, quite hot. Bochart (q) thinks it should be rendered, "baked on hot stones"; and such was the way of baking cakes in some of the eastern countries; see Gill on Gen 18:6, the stones hereabout might be heated by a supernatural power, and the cake baked on them by an angel; these sort of cakes are in Hebrew called "huggoth", as some pronounce the word, and are said to be now common in Bulgaria, where they are called "hugaces" (r):

and a cruse of water at his head; to drink of in eating the cake; which cruse or pot a learned man (s) thinks was Elijah's, not brought by the angel, only water put into it by him; see Sa1 26:11, and he did eat and drink; but not all that was set before him:

and laid him down again; to take some more sleep for his greater refreshment.

(q) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 33. col. 528. (r) Busbequius apud Calmet on the word "Bread". (s) Schacchi Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. 1. c. 44. col. 224.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

A cake baken on the coals - It is not implied that Elijah found a fire lighted and the cake on it, but only that he found one of the usual baked cakes of the desert, which form the ordinary food of the Arab at the present day.

At his head - The Hebrew word means simply “the place on which the head lies;” hence, the marginal rendering, “bolster.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Cake, baked in a hollow stone, covered with fire. The Arabs call such cakes, Ridpha. An angel brought this nourishment. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

6. A cake baken on the coals — Baked after the manner still common in the East, on smooth stones heated by coals of fire. Whether these provisions were prepared immediately by the angel, or by some traveller whom God led that way, we need not discuss, for either was possible. He who commanded the ravens to feed this prophet at the brook Cherith, might easily have put it into the heart of some passing Arab to leave the cake and the cruse of water at his head as he slept under the rothem shrub.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake same word as 1Ki_17:13 baken on the coals Heb. a cake of stones, or coals. LXX. ejgkrufiav. The thin, flat bread of the East, especially among the nomadic desert tribes, is constantly baked in a rude oven, constructed in the sand or soft. A little hollow is made; sometimes it is lined with stones to retain the heat; fuel, often the root of the genista, is placed upon it and kindled, and when the sand or stones are sufficiently hot, the embers are raked to one side, and the dough is placed in the oven, where it is sometimes covered with the ashes. Hence the Vulgate calls it subcinericius panis, and a cruse of water at his head i.e. , the place of his head. Marg. bolster. The word is almost used as a preposition. (Cf. 1Sa_19:13 1Sa_26:7) And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. Heb. returned and laid down.

A cake baken on the coals," etc. Not only was the prophet protected, he was provided for by the angel. What a commentary on that verse, "He giveth it to his beloved while they sleep". (Psa_127:2, Hebrews) And does not God give us all food in like manner? While the farmer sleeps, the seed springs and grows up, he knoweth not how. (Mar_4:27) Our Keeper neither slumbers nor sleeps. (Psa_121:4) Observe also how God prepares a table in the wilderness. It is not the first time He has given angels" food in the desert (Psa_78:25; Neh_9:21; Deu_8:16)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hot coals. Hot coals, and similarly, “and in his hand was a hot coal [רצפה].”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.