Judges 13:6

6 And when she had come to her husband, she said to him, A man of God came to me, and he had an angel's cheer, and he was full fearedful (and he had the face of an angel, and he was most frightening); and when I had asked him, who he was, and from whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not say to me;

Judges 13:6 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:6

Then the woman came and told her husband
To whom it would be joyful news, as it was to her:

saying, a man of God came unto me;
he appeared in an human form, and therefore she calls him a man; and by his mien and deportment, and the message he brought, she concluded he was a man of God, that is, a prophet; by which name such persons went in those days; and so the Targum calls him a prophet of the Lord: but it is a mere conceit of Ben Gersom that it was Phinehas, who in all probability was not living; besides what is after related shows that this was a divine Person, and no other than the Son of God:

and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very
terrible;
for though she might never have seen an angel, yet it being a common notion that angels were very illustrious, of a beautiful form and of a shining countenance, and very majestic, she compares the man she saw to one; for by being "very terrible", is not meant that he was frightful, and struck her with horror, but venerable and majestic, which filled her with admiration:

but I asked him not whence he [was], neither told he me his name;
this she added to prevent her husband's inquiring about his name and place of abode; and perhaps, as she came along, she reflected on herself that she did not ask those questions; which might be owing to the surprise she was in, partly at the awful and venerable appearance of the person, and partly at the joyful news he brought her; though it seems as if she did ask his name, but he did not tell her what it was.

Judges 13:6 In-Context

4 Therefore be thou ware, lest thou drink wine, and cider (or cider), neither eat thou any unclean thing;
5 for thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, whose head a razor shall not touch; for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of God, from his young age, and from the mother's womb (for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to God, from his mother's womb); and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines.
6 And when she had come to her husband, she said to him, A man of God came to me, and he had an angel's cheer, and he was full fearedful (and he had the face of an angel, and he was most frightening); and when I had asked him, who he was, and from whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not say to me;
7 but he answered thus, Lo! thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; (but) be thou ware, that thou drink no wine nor cider, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of the Lord, from his young age, and from the mother's womb, till to the day of his death (for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to the Lord, from his mother's womb, until the day of his death).
8 Therefore Manoah prayed the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech, that the man of God, whom thou sentest, come again, and teach us, what we ought to do of the child, that shall be born (what we ought to do with the child, who shall be born to us).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.