Judges 13:15–23, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 13:15–23
The offering rises, and the woman interprets mercy
Hospitality is turned into an offering
Manoah wants to set food before the visitor. The messenger will not eat their bread and tells them to offer a burnt offering to the LORD. Asked his name so they may honor him, he says it is wonderful, secret, beyond grasping. They offer on the rock, and the messenger does wondrously: as the flame goes up, he ascends in it. Manoah and his wife fall on their faces.
She interprets the sign against panic
Manoah now knows they have seen a messenger of God and says they will die. His wife answers from what has already happened: if the LORD meant to kill them, he would not have accepted the offering, shown them all this, or told them such things. She reasons from accepted worship, given revelation, and a still-living promise.
The scene directs worship to the LORD, not to a name to be decoded. Her inference is the sound theology of the unit. Fear after a holy encounter is real; it is not automatically guidance, and it is not wiser than her reading of mercy.
How this should shape us
When alarm contradicts a clear promise and visible mercy, test the fear against what was actually said and done. Do not treat panic, or a mysterious religious experience, as a higher word than the given good.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 13:15–23 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Christological, angelological, and literary readings of the figure differ. The narrative does not itself provide a later doctrinal identification, so confidence should remain bounded.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 13:15–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 13:15–23
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 475-476, translation and notes on 13:15–23
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 285-340
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 13:15–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 13:15–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 475-476, translation and notes on 13:15–23
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 285-340
Open source ↗doctoral thesis repository record
Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges: An Inductive, Rhetorical Study
Gregory T. K. Wong
University of Edinburgh, 2005
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Exact location: Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Open source ↗