Judges 6:26

Jdg 6:26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

Ver. 26. And take the second bullock.] Appointed likely for Baal. This bullock was to be offered up, and with the wood of the grove, in sacrifice to the Lord. We see then that things which have been abused to idolatry, may afterwards be lawfully used in God’s service, as churches, monasteries, chalices, &c. So the men of Bethshemesh took and used the Philistines’ cart and cattle. {1Sa 6:15}

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 6:26. Upon the top of this rock — Hebrew, of this strong hold. For in that calamitous time the Israelites retreated to such rocks, and hid and fortified themselves in them. In the ordered place — That is, in a plain and smooth part of the rock, where an altar may be conveniently built; and offer a burnt-sacrifice — Gideon was no priest, nor was this the appointed place of sacrifice; but God can dispense with his own institutions, though we may not; and his call gave Gideon sufficient authority.

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

Which grew about Baal’s altar.

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

Verse 26. With the wood of the grove] It is probable that אשרה Asherah here signifies Astarte; and that there was a wooden image of this goddess on the altar of Baal. Baal-peor was the same as Priapus, Astarte as Venus; these two impure idols were proper enough for the same altar. In early times, and among rude people, the images of the gods were made of wood. This is the case still with the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, with the Indians of America, and with the inhabitants of Ceylon: many of the images of Budhoo are of wood. The Scandinavians also had wooden gods.

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

(26) Of this rock.—The word is not selah, as in Jdg_6:20, or tsor, as in Jdg_6:21, but malioz, “stronghold,” probably the citadel of Ophrah. The LXX. render it as a proper name (maoz), or in some MSS., “on the top of this mountain.” The word only occurs elsewhere in Hebrew poetry.

In the ordered place.—The margin reads, “in an orderly manner;” but probably neither version is quite correct. The Hebrew word is bammaarachah (comp. Lev_24:6; 2Ch_2:4); and as the particle be is used of the materials with which a thing is built in 1Ki_15:22; some here render it, “with the materials.” That the Jews themselves were not quite certain of the meaning appears from the various versions. The LXX. render it, “in the arrangement,” and the Vulg., “on which you have before placed the sacrifice.” It means “with the Asherah pillar hewed down, and split up into firewood.” The Jews point out the peculiar features of this burnt offering: (1) It was not at Shiloh; (2) it was not offered by a priest; (3) it was offered at night; and (4) the fire was kindled with the unhallowed materials of an idol. The Divine command was, of course, more than sufficient to justify these merely ritual irregularities; and, indeed, it is clear that in these rude times, when the country was in the hands of the heathen, the Levitic order of worship became, for the time, impossible in many particulars. Prophets and those directly commissioned by heaven were tacitly regarded as exempt from the strict rules of outward ritual which were necessary for the mass of the nation.

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

26. build an altar unto the Lord] The present narrative tells another story about Gideon independently of what has gone before, Jdg_6:24.

this strong hold] Strictly ‘place of refuge’; but sometimes, as here and in Isa_17:9-10, the idea of strength is added. For Jehovah’s altar a new site is to be chosen.

in the orderly manner] The cognate verb is used in Num_23:4 of arranging altars, and elsewhere of arranging in order offerings or wood for sacrifice. The noun generally means a row or rank, esp. the ranks of an army, e.g. 1Sa_4:2; 1Sa_4:12 (‘army,’ marg. ‘array’); hence it may denote here the row or course of stones built into the altar. But the exact sense of the word is uncertain. The marg. may be ignored.

the second bullock] Probably the second has been introduced here and in Jdg_6:28 for the sake of verbal harmony with Jdg_6:25, where, however, the text is corrupt.

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.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants,.... Not only whom he could command, but could confide in, and whom he knew would cheerfully engage in this work, being like himself, who had not bowed the knee to Baal; and as there was much work to do, and it required dispatch, such a number was necessary; since he had not only the altar of Baal to throw down, and his grove or idol to cut down, but an altar to build, and a sacrifice to be taken and offered:

and did as the Lord had said unto him; all the above things, he set about them at once, and dispatched them all in one night; so ready and cheerful was he in obedience to the divine command:

and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night; for both his father's family, and the inhabitants of the city of Ophrah, were all idolaters, worshippers of Baal; and this fear of them was not a fear of being reproached or punished for what he did, or of any harm coming to him for the fact, which as he might expect would be known, so the risk was the same, be it done when it would; but it was a fear of being restrained and hindered from doing it, and therefore in point of prudence, and consulting the honour of God and religion, and not his own safety, he took the time of the night to do it in.

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

In the ordered place - See the margin. “Build an altar, etc., with the materials,” “the wood laid in order” (compare Gen 22:9), that, namely, which he would find ready to hand in the altar of Baal which he was to throw down.

The wood of the grove - “The (blocks of) wood of the idol,” i. e. the image of Astarte. The command from God Himself to build an altar, and sacrifice upon it, is analogous to Elijah’s sacrifice 1 Kings 18, and was doubtless caused by the extraordinary circumstance of the defection of the Israelites from the worship of the true God. Possibly, too, the Midianite invasion had made the worship at Shiloh impossible at this time.

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

Top. Hebrew, "on the to of this fortress, (Mawz. Daniel xi. 38.; Septuagint) on the platform, (Calmet) or place appointed." (Haydock) --- Offer. Though Gedeon was not a priest, he was authorized to offer sacrifice. (Menochius) --- God can dispense with his own laws. (Haydock)

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).

Upon the top of this rock; of which Jdg 6:20,21. Heb. of this strong hold; for in that calamitous time the Israelites retreated to such rocks, and hid and fortified themselves in them.

In the ordered place, i.e. in a plain and smooth part of the rock, where an altar may be conveniently built. Or,

in order, i.e. in such manner as I have appointed; for God had given rules about the building of altars.

Offer a burnt-sacrifice: Gideon was no priest, nor was this the appointed place of sacrifice; but God can dispense with his own institutions, though we may not; and his call gave Gideon sufficient authority.

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

26. Upon the top of this rock — Rather, the top of this stronghold. The reference is to the fortified summit of the mountain or hill on which Ophrah stood, not the rock on which Gideon had already built his Jehovah-shalom altar.

In the ordered place — Rather, as in the margin, in an orderly manner; literally, with the arrangement; that is, with that order, arrangement, and disposition which becomes a thing so sacred as an altar to Jehovah. Some, without sufficient reason, understand the Hebrew word to refer to the materials of the overthrown altar of Baal, out of which the new altar was to be built; others to the pieces of wood at the Baal altar which were lying there in readiness for use in the idol sacrifices.

The wood of the grove — Rather, the wood of the Asherah; that is, of the wooden statue mentioned in the preceding verse.

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

This rock. Rather, the keep or stronghold of Ophrah, where also the high place was; just as the temple was in the stronghold of Zion, and the hold of the house of Baal-Berith at Shechem was in the citadel of the place. (Jud_1:9:46) In the ordered place. The meaning of this phrase is uncertain. It may either be rendered as in the A.V, meaning on the levelled ground ordered and prepared for the building of the altar; or it may more probably be rendered with the arranged material, i.e. the stones which were laid in order at the bottom, and the wood which was laid in order upon the top of the altar. (cf. Gen_22:9) The material may either refer to that taken from the altar of Baal, which had been thrown down, and which was then ordered to be used in building the altar of the Lord, or to its own arranged material or superstructure, the wood of the asherah .

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

Of this rock - Hebrew. of this strong hold: for in that calamitous time the Israelites retreated to such rocks, and hid and fortified themselves in them. Ordered place - That is, in a plain and smooth part of the rock, where an altar may be conveniently built. And offer - Gideon was no priest, nor was this the appointed place of sacrifice; but God can dispense with his own institutions, though we may not; and his call gave Gideon sufficient authority.

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

Top of the bulwark. Top of the rock.

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.