Hakim-hakim 6:18-24

6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back ¹  with a gift ²  and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”

6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, ³  along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food ⁴  to him under the oak tree and presented it to him. 6:20 God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, ⁵  and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. ⁶  6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. ⁷  Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. ⁸ 

6:22 When Gideon realized ⁹  that it was the Lord’s messenger, he ¹⁰  said, “Oh no! ¹¹  Master, Lord! ¹²  I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!” 6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! ¹³  Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!” 6:24 Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.” ¹⁴  To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

[6:18]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:18]  ² tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.

[6:19]  ³ tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”

[6:19]  ⁴ tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[6:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”

[6:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he did so.”

[6:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”

[6:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “went from his eyes.”

[6:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “saw.”

[6:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “Ah!”

[6:22]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15], Lord”).

[6:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.

[6:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “The Lord is peace.” Gideon’s name for the altar plays on the Lord’s reassuring words to him, “Peace to you.”