Judges 6:18

Jdg 6:18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set [it] before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

Ver. 18. And bring forth my present,] i.e., My provision, as Gen 18:5.

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.

Jdg 6:18-19. Until I bring forth my present — A repast for the angel whom he thought to be a man; and set it before thee — That thou mayest eat and refresh thyself. An ephah of flour — The choicest part of a whole ephah; as also he brought to him the best part of a kid dressed; for a whole ephah and a whole kid had been superfluous and improper to provide for one man.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

GIDEON'S PRESENT CONSUMED BY FIRE. (Jdg. 6:17-32)

Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I . . . bring forth my present--Hebrew, my mincha, or "meat offering"; and his idea probably was to prove, by his visitor's partaking of the entertainment, whether or not he was more than man.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. And bring forth my present] My minchah; generally an offering of bread, wine, oil, flour, and such like. It seems from this that Gideon supposed the person to whom he spoke to be a Divine person. Nevertheless, what he prepared and brought out appears to be intended simply as an entertainment to refresh a respectable stranger.

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

18. Depart not hence] is the natural sequel of Jdg_6:17 a. Like Abraham (Gen_18:3 ff.) and Manoah (ch. Jdg_13:15), Gideon presses hospitality upon the stranger. He had to run home in order to prepare the food, for the winepress was outside the village.

my present] The word has this meaning in Jdg_3:15; Jdg_3:17, Gen_32:13 ff; Gen_33:10; Gen_43:11 ff. etc.; but it is used more frequently of an offering made to God, whether of animals or of the fruit of the earth, e.g. Gen_4:3-5, 1Sa_2:17; 1Sa_2:29; in the later ritual usage it becomes the technical term for the meal- or grain-offering, Eze_46:14, and always in P. In the present case Gideon prepares a present of food for his guest, not an offering to God; but in view of what happened the writer chose a word which might bear either sense. The LXX definitely renders ‘sacrifice.’ Cf. Jdg_13:19.

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 Gideon went in,.... Into his own house, or his father's:

and made ready a kid; boiled it, as appears by the broth he brought, at least part of it was so dressed; and perhaps it was only some part of one that he brought, since a whole one was too much to be set before one person, and if even he himself intended to eat with him:

and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour; that is, probably those were made out of an ephah of flour; not that the whole ephah was made into cakes; since an omer, the tenth part of an ephah, was sufficient for one man a whole day; and, according to the computation of Waserus (n) an ephah was enough for forty five men for a whole day; unless it can be thought that this was done to show his great hospitality to a stranger, and the great respect he had for him as a messenger of God: the rather unleavened cakes were brought, because of dispatch, being soon made. Jarchi says, from hence it may be learned that it was now the time of the passover, and of waving the sheaf; but this is no sufficient proof of it; besides, if this was new wheat Gideon had been threshing, it shows it to be about the wheat harvest, which was not till Pentecost; it was the barley harvest that began at the passover:

the flesh he put in a basket; the flesh of the kid which was boiled, or if any part of it was dressed another way, it was put by itself in a basket for more easy and commodious carriage:

and he put the broth in a pot; a brazen pot, as Kimchi interprets it, in which the kid was boiled; and this, as he says, was the water it was boiled in:

and brought it out unto him under the oak; where he appeared, and was now waiting the return of Gideon there:

and presented it; set it before him, perhaps upon a table, which might be brought by his servants, or on a seat, which was placed under the oak to sit upon under its shade for pleasure.

(n) De Antiqu. mensuris Heb. l. 2. c. 5. sect. 9.

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

My present - My Minchah: the word used regularly, though not exclusively, for the meat and drink offering (Lev 2:1 note). Its double sense of an offering to God, and of a gift to man, suits the doubt in Gideon’s mind as to who his visitor might be.

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

A sacrifice, or some provisions to present unto thee. Hebrew mincha, is taken for a present, particularly of flour and wine. It is used to denote those presents which were made by Jacob to Esau, and Joseph, and by Aod to the king of Moab, chap. iii. 15., and Genesis xliii. 14. (Calmet) --- To sacrifice, often means to kill things for a feast, Matthew xxii. 4. What Gedeon brought, was afterwards turned into a sacrifice by the angel, ver. 21. (Menochius) --- Gedeon was not a priest, nor was there any altar prepared for a sacrifice. If Gedeon had intended to offer one, he would not have boiled nor baked the food, which he presented before his guest. (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).

My present; not a sacrifice, because neither was Gideon a priest, nor was this the place of sacrifice, nor was any altar here, nor was there any such sacrifice as here follows appointed by God; but a repast, or some food for the angel, which he thought to be a man, as appears by Jdg 6:22. Compare Jdg 13:15; Gen 18:5.

Set it before thee, that thou mayst eat and refresh thyself.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. My present — The original word, minchah, “does not mean a sacrifice in the strict sense, nor merely a gift of food, but a sacrificial gift in the sense of a gift presented to God, on the acceptance of which he hoped to receive the sign which would show whether the person who had appeared to him was really God. This sacrificial gift consisted of such food as they were accustomed to set before a guest whom they wished especially to honour.” — Keil. The sign by which Gideon would judge of the character of his guest was probably, as Henry says, “if he ate of it as common meat he would suppose him to be a man, a prophet; if otherwise, as it proved, he should know him to be an angel.”

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

My present. Minehah means sometimes a present made to man, as in Jud_1:3:18; but it more commonly means a sacrificial offering, (Gen_4:3-5) which seems to be its meaning here, as explained vers. 19, 20. When coupled with zevach, the animal sacrifice, minchah means the meat and drink offering.

Vers. 18-21. The sign the present turned into a sacrifice.

The narrative speaks for itself; it is a picture of Eastern hospitality. Gideon"s sense of the extraordinary nature of the visit expresses itself in his taking upon himself the duties of servant as well as host, to keep it secret. As the angel said to Manoah, "I will not eat of thy bread", (Jud_1:13:16) so the visitor betrays his true character as an angel of Jehovah in abstaining from the food. Of the phrase "and they did eat" in Gen_18:8, the Targum gives the gloss,." they seemed to him to eat." Angels, not having a corporeal nature, do not require mortal sustenance. But the most striking incident in the narrative is the touching of the flesh and cakes with the angel"s staff, and their being consumed by fire from the rock. This circumstance betokened not rejection of the gift, but its acceptance in a higher sense; the present becomes a sacrifice.

I ALL BEST GIFTS ARE SACRIFICIAL. That which is given in order to a return; from gratification of self-love, ostentation, vanity; from custom; or without any real sense of loss, sacrifice, etc., is not accounted great by generous minds, however intrinsically precious it may be. As the sentiment enhances the value of the gift, even trifling in our eyes, so that which has cost pain, effort, loss of loving hearts, is "above rubies." Personality often thwarts the purpose of a well-intended gift; therefore it has often to be effaced ere the true end is attained.

II How GOD OFTEN DEALS THUS WITH THE GIFTS OF HIS SERVANTS. It is not in a few isolated miracles that this has taken place. The mode of procedure is a principle of his kingdom, and is seen in every true life.

1. In carrying on a spiritual work to unforeseen developments, and so that demands are made the agent did not at first contemplate. Some kinds of spiritual effort are like sinking a shaft for a mine, the ultimate expenditure of labour and means is not ascertainable. That which was almost a pastime becomes a serious task. Consequences are evolved that call for heroism and generous self-devotion.

2. Results which were aimed at in the first instance are withheld, and the labourer has to continue steadfast amidst apparent want of success.

3. The labour itself becomes dear, and enthusiasm makes the greatest efforts easy, and the heaviest burdens light. At first it is "our" work; by-and-bye it is God s work. We lose ourselves m the presence of the "not ourselves that maketh for righteousness," who accepts our feeble labours and turns them towards infinite and inconceivable purposes.

III WHAT IS SUBSERVED BY THIS CONVERSION.

1. It is educative. The subject of it is being taught a nobler life. He is wooed gradually out of the narrow shell of self into the larger atmosphere and arena of Divine love. At first God provokes us to the disinterested passion for himself, then he surprises us into fitting expression of it. The bridges of retreat are cut.

2. Our vague intention is interpreted to our spirits, and is set free. The alchemy of Divine love turns our dross into gold, our water into wine.

3. The permanent utility of man"s work is thereby secured. Like the devotion of Christ, it receives an absolute worth in perfected sacrifice. M.

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

My present - A repast for the angel, whom he thought to be a man. Set it - That thou mayest eat and refresh thyself.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.