Judges 13:20-25

13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it ¹  while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown ²  to the ground.

13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger. ³  13:22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!” ⁴  13:23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. ⁵  He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

13:24 Manoah’s wife ⁶  gave birth to a son and named him Samson. ⁷  The child grew and the Lord empowered ⁸  him. 13:25 The Lord’s spirit began to control him ⁹  in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

¹ tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”

² tn Heb “on their faces.”

³ tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the Lord’s messenger.”

⁴ tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the Lord’s messenger, not God himself. Of course, he may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Another option, the one followed in the translation, understands Manoah to be referring to a lesser deity. The term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is sometimes used of an individual deity other than the Lord (see BDB 43 s.v. 2.a). One cannot assume that Manoah was a theologically sophisticated monotheist.

⁵ tn Heb “our hand.”

⁶ tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”

⁷ tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”

⁸ tn Traditionally, “blessed.”

⁹ tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”