Judges 6:18

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.

Judges 6:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee
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 sacrifice; but it appears by what follows that it was not of the nature of a sacrifice; and, besides, Gideon was no priest, nor was this a place for sacrifice, nor was there here any altar; and, besides, as Gideon did not yet know that it was the Lord himself, he could never think of offering a sacrifice to him:

and he said, I will tarry until thou come again;
which was a wonderful instance of divine condescension, it being some time he waited ere Gideon could prepare what he brought, as follows.

Judges 6:18 In-Context

16 And Jehovah said to him, I will certainly be with thee; and thou shalt smite Midian as one man.
17 And he said to him, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, shew me a sign that it is thou who talkest with me.
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.
19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour in unleavened cakes: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the terebinth, and presented it.
20 And the Angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Minchah: see Note f, Lev. 2.1.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.