Judges 13:22

22 Manoach said to his wife, "We will surely die, because we have seen God!"

Judges 13:22 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:22

And Manoah said unto his wife
Being risen from the ground, where they fell on their faces:

we shall surely die, because we have seen God;
by which it appears that he not only believed him to be an angel, and not a man, but a divine Person; for though angels are sometimes called "Elohim", the word here used, yet good men were not wont to fear death, or conclude they should die on sight of an angel; but their notion was, that an appearance of God to them was death, and were surprised when it did not follow, ( Genesis 32:30 ) ( Judges 6:22 Judges 6:23 ) ( Exodus 33:20 ) .

Judges 13:22 In-Context

20 as the flame went up toward the sky from the altar, the angel of ADONAI went up in the flame from the altar. When Manoach and his wife saw it, they fell to the ground on their faces.

21 But the angel of ADONAI did not appear again to Manoach or his wife. Then Manoach realized it had been the angel of ADONAI.

22 Manoach said to his wife, "We will surely die, because we have seen God!"

23 But his wife said to him, "If ADONAI had wanted to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, and he wouldn't have shown us all this or told us such things at this time."

24 The woman bore a son and called him Shimshon. The child grew, and ADONAI blessed him.