And the Lord said unto him, surely I will be with thee ,.... The Targum is,"my Word shall be thy help,'which was sufficient to answer all objections taken from his meanness, unworthiness, and weakness: and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man ; all together, and as easily as if thou hadst but one man to deal with, and the destruction be so entire and general that none shall be left. read more
And he said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight , &c.; Or seeing he had, as appeared by his salutation of him as a man of might, by the work he gave him a commission to do, and by the promise of assistance and success: then show me a sign that thou talkest with me ; in the name of God, as a messenger sent by him, whether an angel or a man; for who he was as yet Gideon was not clear in it, and that what he had said was truth, and would be certainly fulfilled; and which... read more
Intending to go to his own, or his father's house, to fetch some food to entertain him with, and therefore entreats he would not quit the place where he was until he returned: and bring forth my present, and set it before thee ; to treat him with, as a stranger and a messenger of God; and perhaps he thought, by this means, the better to discover who he was, whether an angel or a man: the word for the "present" is "minchah", often used for a meat offering, therefore some have thought of a... read more
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;... read more
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... read more
Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand ,.... With which he walked, appearing as a traveller, and which was one reason of Gideon's providing for his refreshment, before he proceeded on in his journey: and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes ; did not strike the rock with it, as Moses did with his rod, to fetch out water for the Israelites, but touched the provisions brought him; not using it instead of a knife to separate any part of them,... read more
And when Gideon perceived he was an angel of the Lord ,.... By the miracle wrought, and the manner of his departure: Gideon said, alas! O Lord God ; woe to me, what will become of me, or befall me, I shall surely die: for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face ; and whom he had reason to believe was the Lord himself, a divine Person, by the miracle wrought; and it was a commonly received notion even among good men, in those times, that the Lord was not to be seen by... read more
And the Lord said unto him ,.... Either by a secret impulse upon his spirit, or by a voice from heaven; and even, as Kimchi observes, the angel, after he ascended, might cause this voice to be heard, seeing him in great fear, because he knew he was an angel; and which is another proof of this angel being Jehovah himself, the eternal Word: peace be unto thee, fear not, thou shall not die ; let not thy mind be ruffled and disturbed, but serene and calm; fear not that any evil shall befall... read more
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord ,.... On the top of the rock where he had laid his provisions, and which had been consumed by fire issuing out of it, as a token of divine acceptance, and as an assurance of his destroying the Midianites as easily and quickly as the fire had consumed them, and therefore had great encouragement to erect an altar here for God: and called it Jehovahshalom ; the Lord is peace, the author and giver of peace, temporal, spiritual, and eternal; so... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 6:15
And he said unto him, oh my Lord ,.... Whether he had yet suspected who he was, or took him still for some eminent person, is not certain; it is very probable he began to think he was some extraordinary person sent of God, and speaking in his name, and therefore expostulates with him about the work he put him upon: wherewith shall I save Israel ? in what way is it possible for me to do it, who had neither men nor money sufficient for such an undertaking? behold, my family is poor in... read more