Judges 6:26

 Judges 6:26

And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

a. ASV: And build an altar unto Jehovah thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shalt cut down.[Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: And thou hast built an altar to Jehovah thy God on the top of this stronghold, by the arrangement, and hast taken the second bullock, and caused to ascend a burnt-offering with the wood of the shrine which thou cuttest down.' [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: And build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this stronghold with stones laid in proper order. Then take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. NLT: Then build an altar to the LORD your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”[Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

e. Rubin Edition; The Early Prophets: Joshua & Judges: Then build an altar for HASHEM, your God, atop the strong rock, on a level place. Take the second bull and offer it as an elevation-offering, using the wood of the Asheral-tree that you will cut down.  [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

f. Peshitta Eastern Text: And build an altar to the LORD your God upon the top of this rock, i an orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer it upon it as a burnt offering with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.  [HOLY BIBLE FROM THE ANCIENT EASTERN TEXT.Copyright  Ⓒ 1933 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1968 by A.J. Holmon Co.; All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.]

1. “And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place…”

a. [And] build [Strong: 1129 bânâh, baw-naw'; a primitive root; to build (literally and figuratively):—(begin to) build(-er), obtain children, make, repair, set (up), × surely.]

b. [an] altar [Strong: 4196 mizbêach, miz-bay'-akh; from H2076; an altar:—altar.]

c. [unto the] LORD [Strong: Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

d. [thy] God [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

e. upon [Strong: 5921 ʻal, al; properly, the same as H5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications:—above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.]

f. [the] top [Strong: 7218 rôʼsh, roshe; from an unused root apparently meaning to shake; the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, etc.):—band, beginning, captain, chapiter, chief(-est place, man, things), company, end, × every (man), excellent, first, forefront, (be-)head, height, (on) high(-est part, (priest)), × lead, × poor, principal, ruler, sum, top.]

g. [of] this [Strong: 2088 zeh, zeh; a primitive word; the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that:—he, × hence, × here, it(-self), × now, × of him, the one...the other, × than the other, (× out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, × thus, very, which.]

h. rock [Strong: 4581 mâʻôwz, maw-oze'; (also מָעוּז mâʻûwz ); or מָעֹז mâʻôz (also מָעֻז mâʻuz; from H5810; a fortified place; figuratively, a defence:—force, fort(-ress), rock, strength(-en), (× most) strong (hold).]

i. [in the] ordered place [Strong: 4634 maʻărâkâh, mah-ar-aw-kaw'; feminine of H4633; an arrangement; concretely, a pile; specifically a military array:—army, fight, be set in order, ordered place, rank, row.]

1). Commands concerning offerings was not kept here. It was not done at the Temple.

a). Deuteronomy 12:5-14 But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

12:6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

12:7 And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

12:9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you.

12:10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

12:11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord:

12:12 And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

12:13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

12:14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

2). Gideon was not a priest.

2. “...and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.”

a. [and] take [Strong: 3947 lâqach, law-kakh'; a primitive root; to take (in the widest variety of applications):—accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, × many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.

b. [Strong: 853 ʼêth, ayth; apparent contracted from H226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):—[as such unrepresented in English].]

c. [the] second [Strong: 8145 shênîy, shay-nee'; from H8138; properly, double, i.e. second; also adverbially, again:—again, either (of them), (an-) other, second (time).]

d. bullock Strong: 6499 par, par; or פָּר pâr; from H6565; + a bullock (apparently as breaking forth in wild strength, or perhaps as dividing the hoof):—(+ young) bull(-ock), calf, ox.]

e. [and] offer [Strong: ʻâlâh, aw-law'; a primitive root; to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative:—arise (up), (cause to) ascend up, at once, break (the day) (up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, shew, climb (up), (cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up); grow (over) increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, (make) up, × mention, mount up, offer, make to pay, perfect, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), (begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work.]

f. [a] burnt sacrifice [Strong: 5930 ʻôlâh, o-law'; or עוֹלָה ʻôwlâh; feminine active participle of H5927; a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke):—ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also H5766.]

g. [with the] wood [Strong: 6086 ʻêts, ates; from H6095; a tree (from its firmness); hence, wood (plural sticks):— carpenter, gallows, helve, pine, plank, staff, stalk, stick, stock, timber, tree, wood.]

h. [of the] grove [Strong: 842 ʼăshêrâh, ash-ay-raw'; or אֲשֵׁירָה ʼăshêyrâh; from H833; happy; Asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess; also an image of the same:—grove.]

i. which [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

j. [thou shalt] cut down [Strong: 3772 kârath, kaw-rath'; a primitive root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces):—be chewed, be con-(feder-) ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league (covenant), × lose, perish, × utterly, × want.]

1). Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: The Jews point out the peculiar features of this burnt offering: (1) It was not at Shiloh; (2) it was not offered by a priest; (3) it was offered at night; and (4) the fire was kindled with the unhallowed materials of an idol. The Divine command was, of course, more than sufficient to justify these merely ritual irregularities; and, indeed, it is clear that in these rude times, when the country was in the hands of the heathen, the Levitic order of worship became, for the time, impossible in many particulars. Prophets and those directly commissioned by heaven were tacitly regarded as exempt from the strict rules of outward ritual which were necessary for the mass of the nation.