Hakim-hakim 13:8-14

13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, ¹  “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God ²  to visit ³  us again, so he can teach ⁴  us how we should raise ⁵  the child who will be born.” 13:9 God answered Manoah’s prayer. ⁶  God’s angelic messenger visited ⁷  the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 13:10 The woman ran at once and told her husband, ⁸  “Come quickly, ⁹  the man who visited ¹⁰  me the other day has appeared to me!” 13:11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met ¹¹  the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” ¹²  He said, “Yes.” ¹³  13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, ¹⁴  how should the child be raised and what should he do?” ¹⁵  13:13 The Lord’s messenger told ¹⁶  Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. ¹⁷  13:14 She should not drink ¹⁸  anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. ¹⁹  She should obey everything I commanded her to do.”

[13:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:8]  ² tn Heb “the man of God.”

[13:8]  ³ tn Heb “come to.”

[13:8]  ⁴ tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).

[13:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “what we should do for.”

[13:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”

[13:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “came to.”

[13:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look.”

[13:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “came to.”

[13:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “came to.”

[13:11]  ¹² tn Heb “the woman.”

[13:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “I [am].”

[13:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”

[13:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”

[13:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “said to.”

[13:13]  ¹⁷ 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.

[13:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “eat.”

[13:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”