Judges 13:18-20
Context13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” 1 13:19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. 2 13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it 3 while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown 4 to the ground.


[13:18] 1 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
[13:19] 2 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the