And he looked, and, behold, [there was] a cake baked on the
coals
Just took off the coals, quite hot. Bochart F17 thinks it should be rendered, "baked on hot stones"; and such was the way of baking cakes in some of the eastern countries, (See Gill on Genesis 18:6), the stones hereabout might be heated by a supernatural power, and the cake baked on them by an angel; these sort of cakes are in Hebrew called "huggoth", as some pronounce the word, and are said to be now common in Bulgaria, where they are called "hugaces" F18:
and a cruse of water at his head;
to drink of in eating the cake; which cruse or pot a learned man F19 thinks was Elijah's, not brought by the angel, only water put into it by him; see ( 1 Samuel 26:11 ) , and he did eat and drink; but not all that was set before him:
and laid him down again;
to take some more sleep for his greater refreshment.
The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.