Manoah And His Wife Series

Manoah and His Wife

Manoah

The Sacrifice of Manoah, 1640–1650.

Manoah (Hebrew: Manoa?) is a figure from the Book of Judges 13:1-23 and 14:2-4 of the Hebrew Bible. His name means "rest."

Family

According to the Bible, Manoah was of the tribe of Dan and lived in the city of Zorah. He married a barren woman. Her name is not mentioned in the Bible, but according to tradition, she was called Hazzelelponi or Zelelponith. She was a daughter of Etam and sister of Ishma.

Manoah and his wife were the parents of the famous judge Samson. According to Rabbinic tradition, they also had a daughter called Nishyan or Nahyan.

Birth of Samson

Manoah and his wife were childless, but the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and told her that she would give birth to a son. The child was to be dedicated from the womb as a Nazirite, which entailed restrictions on his diet, which the angel spelled out. The woman (whose name is not mentioned in the Bible) told her husband, "A man of God came to me." Manoah prayed, and the angel returned to instruct the both of them. After the angel left, Manoah tells his wife, "We shall surely die because we have seen God."

Together with his wife, Manoah subsequently tried to dissuade Samson from marrying a Philistine woman but traveled with him to Timnah for the wedding ceremony when they were unable to do so.

Samson's birth has particular importance for some Christians (primarily Catholics) because of its similarity to the Announcement made to the Virgin Mary.

After Samson's death, his family recovers his body and buries him near the tomb of Manoah.

Next, we will read about "The Woman Who Mothered Earth's, Strongest Man."

Read Judges 13; 14:2-5; Hebrews 11:32

It would have added greater interest to the story of Samson if we had had the name of his mother. It must have been sweet and suggestive, for she was such a good woman. However, while her husband's name is preserved, she is nameless, although the Talmud says that she bore the name of Hazelelponi or Zelelponi (she was of the tribe of Judah. Zelelponi means "the shadow falls on me," and Manoah's wife was undoubtedly one who dwelt under the shadow of the Almighty and became the mother of the most muscular man who ever lived.

She Was a Disappointed Woman

Once again, we have the touching phrase "She was barren," with the redundant expression common in ancient literature, "and bare not." "Sarai was barren: she had no child." "Thou shalt live and not die," etc. As we have already seen, God made many barren wives rejoice over children's birth (SARAH, REBEKAH, HANNAH, ELISABETH). These godly women who felt the intense sorrow and disappointment of a childless home received divine announcement and accomplishment of maternal joy. Manoah's wife was a God-fearing Israelite whose faith taught her that heaven knew all about her cherished maternity and the vain waiting that saddened her life. Manoah and his wife had all the necessary material benefits. They seemed reasonably prosperous, but their greatest joy had been denied their home. Their child-longing and child-loving hearts had never been satisfied.

She Was a Privileged Woman

Heavenly beings brought revelations to individuals, but the prophets were the media of revelation to nations. The wife of Manoah of Zorah was greatly honored in that she experienced a pre-incarnate appearance of the Messiah. By "the angel of the Lord" who visited her with the happy message that her barrenness would pass, and she would become the mother of a most unusual son, we are to understand not any human messenger but a supernatural being. The phrase constantly used in Judges implies, "The angel of His presence," and is equivalent to earlier references (Genesis 16:7; 22:11; Exodus 2:2, 6, 14, etc.). Speaking in the first person, the august visitor who came to Manoah's wife was "the captain of the LORD's host" (Joshua 5:13-15). The announcer of the good news, "thou shalt conceive and bear a son," assumed a human form; for reporting his appearance to her husband, she spoke of him as, "A man of God ... his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible."

Later on, when the heavenly visitant appeared to both Manoah and his wife and repeated his message that their prayer and desire for a child would be answered, his name was again asked. "Neither told me his name" (Judges 13:6). "What is thy name?" (13:17). However, the angel answered, "Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret," or "wonderful," as the messenger expresses it, where the same term is used for the promised Messiah. "His name shall be called Wonderful" (Isaiah 9:6). The same word is used in the phrase, "the angel did wondrously" (Judges 13:19). As angels do not receive worship, the supernatural person the over-awed couple saw was no ordinary angel, for they fell on their faces and said, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God" (Exodus 33:20). Therefore, it is evident that Manoah and his wife had witnessed one of those Old Testament theophanic ( a visible manifestation of a deity) appearances of Christ.