Judges 13:21

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. ¹ 

Judges 13:2

13:2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. ² 

Judges 13:12-13

13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, ³  how should the child be raised and what should he do?” ⁴  13:13 The Lord’s messenger told ⁵  Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. ⁶ 

Judges 13:15

13:15 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please stay here awhile, ⁷  so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” ⁸ 

Judges 13:17

13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.” ⁹ 

Judges 13:22

13:22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!” ¹⁰ 

[13:21]  ¹ tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the Lord’s messenger.”

[13:2]  ² tn Heb “and had not given birth.”

[13:12]  ³ tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”

[13:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”

[13:13]  ⁴ tn Or “said to.”

[13:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.

[13:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”

[13:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”

[13:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.

[13:22]  ⁷ 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.