Judges 6:20
in Judges 6And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Judges 6
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Pour out the broth - Libations were a very ancient form of offering (compare Gen 35:14). The drink offerings of wine under the Levitical law were poured upon the altar Exo 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 1Ki 18:33.)
This site's exposition
lay them on this rock
on Judges 6:20-21
Flesh laid on bare rock with the broth poured over it has stopped being supper and become an offering. Then "fire flared from the rock", the mark of an accepted sacrifice at Leviticus 9:24 and 1 Kings 18:38, and the angel at Manoah's altar goes up in the flame at 13:20. The angel touches the food with his staff and vanishes, so it is burned instead of eaten.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And Gideon, moved by that message, when he heard that, though thousands of the people failed, God would deliver His own from their enemies by means of one man, offered a kid, and according to the word of the Angel, laid its flesh and the unleavened cakes upon the rock, and poured the broth upon them. And as soon as the Angel touched them with the end of the staff which he bore, fire burst forth out of the rock, and so the sacrifice which he was offering was consumed.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." "The humour," therefore, "is wiped off," when sin is not only severed from the deed, but also from the thought. It is hence that Jerubbaal saw the Angel when he was winnowing corn from the chaff, at whose bidding he forthwith dressed a kid and set it upon a rock, and poured over it the broth of the flesh, which the Angel touched with a rod, and thereupon fire coming out of the rock consumed it. For what else is it to beat corn with a rod, but to separate the grains of virtues from the chaff of vices, with an upright judgment? But to those that are thus employed the Angel presents himself, in that the Lord is more ready to communicate interior truths in proportion as men are more earnest in ridding themselves of external things. And he orders a kid to be killed, i.e. every appetite of the flesh to be sacrificed, and the flesh to be set upon a rock, and the broth thereof to be poured upon it. Whom else does the "rock" represent, saving Him, of Whom it is said by Paul, "And that rock was Christ"? We "set flesh then upon the rock," when in imitation of Christ we crucify our body. He too pours the juice of the flesh over it, who, in following the conversation of Christ, empties himself even of the mere thoughts of the flesh themselves. For "the broth" of the dissolved flesh is in a manner "poured upon the rock," when the mind is emptied of the flow of carnal thoughts too. Yet the Angel directly touches it with a rod, in that the might of God's succour never leaves our striving forsaken. And fire issues from the rock, and consumes the broth and the flesh, in that the Spirit, breathed upon us by the Redeemer, lights up the heart with so fierce a flame of compunction, that it consumes every thing in it that is unlawful either in deed or in thought.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the angel of God said unto him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
Take the flesh, etc. - The angel intended to make the flesh and bread an offering to God, and the broth a libation.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָ֜יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מַלְאַ֣ךְ | malakh | [the] angel of | H4397 → | 213 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| קַ֣ח | kach | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבָּשָׂ֤ר | habasar | the meat | H1320 → | 270 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּצּוֹת֙ | hamatzot | the unleavened bread<s> | H4682 → | 53 times |
| וְהַנַּח֙ | vehanach | and set [them] | H5117 → | 142 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַסֶּ֣לַע | hasela' | the rock | H5553 → | 58 times |
| הַלָּ֔ז | halaz | this | H1975 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמָּרַ֖ק | hamarak | the broth | H4839 → | |
| שְׁפ֑וֹךְ | shefokh | pour out | H8210 → | |
| וַיַּ֖עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כֵּֽן׃ | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלָ֜יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
מַלְאַ֣ךְ[the] angel of
malakhH4397 →213 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
קַ֣חtake
kachH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבָּשָׂ֤רthe meat
habasarH1320 →270 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַמַּצּוֹת֙the unleavened bread<s>
hamatzotH4682 →53 times
וְהַנַּח֙and set [them]
vehanachH5117 →142 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַסֶּ֣לַעthe rock
hasela'H5553 →58 times
הַלָּ֔זthis
halazH1975 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַמָּרַ֖קthe broth
hamarakH4839 →
שְׁפ֑וֹךְpour out
shefokhH8210 →
וַיַּ֖עַשׂand he did
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
כֵּֽן׃so
kenH3651 →771 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
2 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 13:19Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing.
it leads to
- Judges 6:19–21
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out…
- 1 Kings 18:30–38
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.
- Judges 6:19–21
Where this verse is studied
About Judges

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit, Book 1; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job 3.30.59; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.
