translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JDG

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “in the eyes of.”


text: Heb “and had not given birth.”


text: The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9 ).


text: Heb “Look, you.”


text: Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see ). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”


text: Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3 ) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה ( harah , “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past ( 1 Sam 4:19 ) or present ( Gen 16:11; 38:25 ; 2 Sam 11:5 ) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5 .


text: Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”


text: Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר ( nazir ) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר ( nazar , “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).


text: Heb “hand.”


text: Heb “The man of God.”


text: Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome.”


text: See the note on the word “son” in 13:5 , where this same statement occurs.


text: Traditionally “a Nazirite.”


text: The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “the man of God.”


text: Heb “come to.”


label: NET textual note

text: 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”).


text: Heb “what we should do for.”


text: Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”


text: Heb “came to.”


text: Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “Look.”


text: Heb “the woman.”


text: Heb “I [am].”


text: Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”


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


text: Or “said to.”


text: 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.


text: Heb “eat.”


text: Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”


text: Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”


text: Heb “If you detain me.”


text: The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the Lord . In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the Lord ’s messenger, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” ( אֱלֹהִים , ’ elohim ), not the Lord ( יְהוַה , yÿhvah ). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s messenger” (v. 6 ), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” ( אֲדוֹנָי , ’ adonay ) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8 ).


text: 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.


text: 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.


text: 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 Lord ’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה ( layhavah mal ’ akh yÿhvah ), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ ( shureq ) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא ( mafli ’) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject ( הוּא , hu ’) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.


text: Heb “in the flame from the altar.”


text: Heb “on their faces.”


text: 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.


text: Heb “our hand.”


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


text: The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”


text: Traditionally, “blessed.”


text: Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”