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Christian Standard Bible ®

Judges 13:18

“Why do you ask my name,” the angel of the Lord asked him, “since it is beyond understanding.”

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Angel (Holy Trinity);   Angel (a Spirit);   Conception;   Curiosity;   Manoah;   Wonderful;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Titles and Names of Christ;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Angel of the Lord;   Harosheth of the Gentiles;   Manoah;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Angels;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Angel of the Lord;   Fire;   Hospitality;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Angel;   Manoah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - High Places;   Judges, the Book of;   Miracles;   Samson;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Angel;   Judges, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Levi;   Manoah;   Nazirite;   Philistines;   Samson;   Trinity;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Manoah ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Manoah;   Samson;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Manoah;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Manoah;   Secret;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Angelology;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The angel of the LORD said to him, Why do you ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
King James Version
And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
Lexham English Bible
But the angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful."
English Standard Version
And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?"
New Century Version
The angel of the Lord said, "Why do you ask my name? It is too amazing for you to understand."
New English Translation
The Lord 's messenger said to him, "You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it."
Amplified Bible
But the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful (miraculous)?"
New American Standard Bible
But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, for it is wonderful?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Angell of the Lorde saide vnto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, which is secret?
Legacy Standard Bible
that they were saying to you, "In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts."
Contemporary English Version
"No," the angel replied. "You don't need to know my name. And if you did, you couldn't understand it."
Complete Jewish Bible
The angel of Adonai answered him, "Why are you asking about my name? It is wonderful."
Darby Translation
And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, How is it that thou askest after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
Easy-to-Read Version
The angel of the Lord said, "Why do you ask my name? It is too amazing for you to believe."
George Lamsa Translation
And the angel of the LORD said to him, Why do you ask my name, seeing it is Glorious?
Good News Translation
The angel asked, "Why do you want to know my name? It is a name of wonder."
Literal Translation
And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, Why do you ask this about My name? Yea, it is Wonderful.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the angell of the LORDE sayde vnto him: Why axest thou after my name, which is wonderfull?
American Standard Version
And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
Bible in Basic English
But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the angel of the Lorde sayde vnto him: Why askest thou thus after my name, which is secrete?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the angel of the LORD said unto him: 'Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is hidden?'
King James Version (1611)
And the Angel of the Lord said vnto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why dost thou thus ask after my name; whereas it is wonderful?
English Revised Version
And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
Berean Standard Bible
"Why do you ask My name," said the Angel of the LORD, "since it is beyond comprehension?"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
To whom he answeride, Whi axist thou my name, which is wondurful?
Young's Literal Translation
And the messenger of Jehovah saith to him, `Why [is] this -- thou dost ask for My name? -- and it [is] Wonderful.'
Update Bible Version
And the angel of Yahweh said to him, Why do you ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
Webster's Bible Translation
And the angel of the LORD said to him, why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it [is] secret?
World English Bible
The angel of Yahweh said to him, Why do you ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
New King James Version
And the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?"
New Living Translation
"Why do you ask my name?" the angel of the Lord replied. "It is too wonderful for you to understand."
New Life Bible
But the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It is a name of wonder."
New Revised Standard
But the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the messenger of Yahweh said unto him, Wherefore is it, that thou shouldst ask after my name, - seeing that, it, is Wonderful?
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful?
Revised Standard Version
And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?"
THE MESSAGE
The angel of God said, "What's this? You ask for my name? You wouldn't understand—it's sheer wonder."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?"

Contextual Overview

15“Please stay here,” Manoah told him, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.” 16The angel of the Lord said to him, “If I stay, I won’t eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not know he was the angel of the Lord.) 17Then Manoah said to him, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?” 18“Why do you ask my name,” the angel of the Lord asked him, “since it is beyond understanding.”19Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord, who did something miraculous while Manoah and his wife were watching. 20When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground. 21The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord. 22“We’re certainly going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!” 23But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and he would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us like this.”

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Why askest: Judges 13:6, Genesis 32:29

secret: or, wonderful, It was because his name was secret that Manoah wished to know it. But the angel does not say it was secret, but hoo pailee, "it is wonderful;" the very character given to the Messiah: "His name shall be called pailai, Wonderful," Isaiah 9:6.

Reciprocal: Judges 6:11 - an angel Proverbs 30:4 - and what Daniel 8:13 - that certain saint Revelation 19:12 - a name

Cross-References

Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 13:4
to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there.
Genesis 13:7
and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.)
Genesis 13:8
So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives.
Genesis 14:13
One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram.
Genesis 18:1
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day.
Genesis 23:2
Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
Genesis 35:27
Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
Genesis 37:14
Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.
Numbers 13:22
They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were living. Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the angel of the Lord said unto him,.... Being so importunate, and pressing upon him;

why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? and not to be known; as his nature and essence as a divine Person, which may be meant by his name, is what passes knowledge, is infinite and incomprehensible; see Proverbs 30:4 or "wonderful" p; which is one of the names of Christ, and fitly agrees with him, who is wonderful in his person, as God and man; in his incarnation, in his offices and relations, in his love to his people, and in all he is unto them, and has done for them;

Proverbs 30:4- :.

p פלאי θαυμαστον, Sept. "mirabile", V. L. Montanus; "mirificus", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Secret - Rather, “wonderful,” as in the margin. In Judges 13:19 the Angel “did wondrously,” probably as the Angel that Appeared to Gideon had done, bringing fire from the rock. See the marginal references and notes.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 13:18. Seeing it is secret? — It was because it was secret that they wished to know it. The angel does not say that it was secret, but הוא פלאי hu peli, it is WONDERFUL; the very character that is given to Jesus Christ, Isaiah 9:6: His name shall be called, פלא Wonderful; and it is supposed by some that the angel gives this as his name, and consequently that he was our blessed Lord.


 
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