Judges 6:19

Jdg 6:19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought [it] out unto him under the oak, and presented [it].

Ver. 19. Under the oak.] Where, as a wayfaring man, he had reposed himself. {Jdg 6:11}

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.

Of Ephah, read Exod. 16:37.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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 Gen 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.

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 19. Made ready a kid - the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot] The manner in which the Arabs entertain strangers will cast light on this verse. Dr. Shaw observes: "Besides a bowl of milk, and a basket of figs, raisins, or dates, which upon our arrival were presented to us to stay our appetite, the master of the tent fetched us from his flock according to the number of our company, a kid or a goat, a lamb or a sheep; half of which was immediately seethed by his wife, and served up with cucasoe; the rest was made kab-ab, i.e., cut to pieces and roasted, which we reserved for our breakfast or dinner next day." May we not suppose, says Mr. Harmer, that Gideon, presenting some slight refreshment to the supposed prophet, according to the present Arab mode, desired him to stay till he could provide something more substantial; that he immediately killed a kid, seethed part of it, and, when ready, brought out the stewed meat in a pot, with unleavened cakes of bread which he had baked; and the other part, the kab-ab, in a basket, for him to carry with him for some after-repast in his journey. See Shaw's and Pococke's Travels, and Harmer's Observations.

Brought it out unto him under the oak] Probably where he had a tent, which, with the shade of the oak, sheltered them from the heat of the sun, and yet afforded the privilege of the refreshing breeze. Under a shade in the open air the Arabs, to the present day, are accustomed to receive their guests.

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

(19) Unleavened cakes.—Because these were most quickly made, as by Lot for the angels, and by the Witch of Endor for Saul (Gen_19:3; 1Sa_28:24).

Of an ephah of flour.—About 22½ lbs. A homer would have been sufficient, as we see from Exo_16:16. An ephah is ten homers; but Eastern hospitality considers nothing to be too lavish.

Presented it.—See Jdg_13:19. The Vatican MS. of the LXX. renders it “approached,” which is inadequate, and the other MSS. “worshipped,” which is too strong. The word has a middle sense: “offered it with respect and reverence.”

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

19. a kid] Cf. Jdg_13:15; Jdg_13:19 and Gen_18:7 (a calf). An ephah was approximately equivalent to our bushel; in Gen_18:6 Abraham orders the same quantity, ‘three seahs’ (= one ephah, cf. Isa_5:10 ephah in LXX = μέτρα τρία). Unleavened cakes could be made rapidly, 1Sa_28:24; for the basket and pot cf. Gen_40:16 ff., 1Sa_2:14.

and presented it] lit. ‘brought it near,’ cf. Gen_27:25. Perhaps we should read with the LXX and drew near (involving only a change of vowels), for the meal has not yet passed out of Gideon’s hands; he is expecting to be told what to do with it.

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 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, Gen 35:8, but it was upon the top of the rock that these were to be laid, where afterwards an altar was built, Jdg 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.

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

Unleavened cakes - As being much more quickly baked (compare Gen 19:3) (and as connected with the meat offering). An ephah, containing 3 measures, was the quantity of flour commonly used at one baking Gen 18:6; Exo 16:16.

Presented it - A word especially, though not exclusively, proper for offerings to God. See Amo 5:25, where the same word is rendered offered.

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

Measure. Hebrew, "epha," containing ten gomors, each of which was sufficient for the daily maintenance of a man; so that Gedeon brought as much as would have sufficed for ten men. Abraham presented no more before the three angels, Genesis xviiii. 6. The magnificence of the ancients consisted rather in producing great abundance, than in multiplying dishes. --- Broth. Syriac and Arabic translate, "a good (old) wine."

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).

Of an ephah of flour, to wit, out of 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 very superfluous, and improper to provide for and set before one man.

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

19. A kid… cakes — Compare the similar meal which Abraham prepared for his divine guests under the oak of Mamre. Gen_18:5-8.

An ephah — A measure of about four and one half pecks.

Flesh he put in a basket… broth in a pot — “The Orientals do not, as we do, use broth in which meat has been boiled as a soup. But they do use stews, such as the pottage for which Esau sold his birthright, and such as the sons of the prophet were preparing when they put into it by mistake some poisonous herb. Thus, we apprehend, part of the kid was prepared, and this was the part brought out in the pot. While this was in preparation over the fire, the other part had been cut up into slips and roasted before the fire upon skewers, in which way meat is very rapidly dressed in the East into what is called kaboobs, which stand in the same place as chops and steaks with us, only that the pieces are very much smaller. This, we apprehend, was what was brought in the basket.” — Kitto.

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

Unleavened cakes. (Gen_19:3 1Sa_28:24) The necessary haste gave no time for the use of leaven, which is one explanation of the unleavened bread at the passover. (Exo_12:33, Exo_12:34, Exo_12:39) Presented it. A word specially used of sacrifices and offerings. (Amo_5:25)

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

An ephah - 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.

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

from an ephah of flour

If it is necessary to use a modern measurement; here is one way of doing it. AT: "with 22 liters of flour" (See: Biblical Volume)

broth

water that has had food, such as meat, cooked in it

them to him

"them to the angel of God"

angel of God

This is the same as the angel of Yahweh. AT: "God, who was in the form of an angel" or "God"

translationWords

Gideon

goat

unleavened bread

basket

oak

angel

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Matzos containing flour. We learn that it was Pesach, the day the Omer offering was waved. This is why it is said, "Behold, a toasted barley bread was careening, etc."

Soup. Broth.

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.