Judges 13:18

THE MESSAGE

The angel of God said, "What's this? You ask for my name? You wouldn't understand—it's sheer wonder."

Parallel Translations

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

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?"

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 Manoah said to the angel of God, "Please, stay with us a little longer; we'll prepare a meal for you—a young goat." ¹⁶ God 's angel said to Manoah, "Even if I stay, I won't eat your food. But if you want to prepare a Whole-Burnt-Offering for God , go ahead—offer it!" Manoah had no idea that he was talking to the angel of God. ¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the angel of God, "What's your name? When your words come true, we'd like to honor you." ¹⁸ The angel of God said, "What's this? You ask for my name? You wouldn't understand—it's sheer wonder." ¹⁹So Manoah took the kid and the Grain-Offering and sacrificed them on a rock altar to God who works wonders. As the flames leapt up from the altar to heaven, God 's angel also ascended in the altar flames. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground. Manoah and his wife never saw the angel of God again. Only then did Manoah realize that this was God 's angel. He said to his wife, "We're as good as dead! We've looked on God!" But his wife said, "If God were planning to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our Whole-Burnt-Offering and Grain-Offering, or revealed all these things to us—given us this birth announcement." The woman gave birth to a son. They named him Samson. The boy grew and God blessed him. The Spirit of God began working in him while he was staying at a Danite camp between Zorah and Eshtaol. ²²Samson And then the People of Israel were back at it again, doing what was evil in God 's sight. God put them under the domination of the Philistines for forty years. At that time there was a man named Manoah from Zorah from the tribe of Dan. His wife was barren and childless. The angel of God appeared to her and told her, "I know that you are barren and childless, but you're going to become pregnant and bear a son. But take much care: Drink no wine or beer; eat nothing ritually unclean. You are, in fact, pregnant right now, carrying a son. No razor will touch his head—the boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of his birth. He will launch the deliverance from Philistine oppression." The woman went to her husband and said, "A man of God came to me. He looked like the angel of God—terror laced with glory! I didn't ask him where he was from and he didn't tell me his name, but he told me, ‘You're pregnant. You're going to give birth to a son. Don't drink any wine or beer and eat nothing ritually unclean. The boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of birth to the day of his death.'" Manoah prayed to God : "Master, let the man of God you sent come to us again and teach us how to raise this boy who is to be born." God listened to Manoah. God's angel came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field; her husband Manoah wasn't there with her. She jumped to her feet and ran and told her husband: "He's back! The man who came to me that day!" Manoah got up and, following his wife, came to the man. He said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He said, "I am." Manoah said, "So. When what you say comes true, what do you have to tell us about this boy and his work?" The angel of God said to Manoah, "Keep in mind everything I told the woman. Eat nothing that comes from the vine: Drink no wine or beer; eat no ritually unclean foods. She's to observe everything I commanded her." Manoah said to the angel of God, "Please, stay with us a little longer; we'll prepare a meal for you—a young goat." God 's angel said to Manoah, "Even if I stay, I won't eat your food. But if you want to prepare a Whole-Burnt-Offering for God , go ahead—offer it!" Manoah had no idea that he was talking to the angel of God. Then Manoah asked the angel of God, "What's your name? When your words come true, we'd like to honor you." The angel of God said, "What's this? You ask for my name? You wouldn't understand—it's sheer wonder." So Manoah took the kid and the Grain-Offering and sacrificed them on a rock altar to God who works wonders. As the flames leapt up from the altar to heaven, God 's angel also ascended in the altar flames. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground. Manoah and his wife never saw the angel of God again. Only then did Manoah realize that this was God 's angel. He said to his wife, "We're as good as dead! We've looked on God!" ²³ But his wife said, "If God were planning to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our Whole-Burnt-Offering and Grain-Offering, or revealed all these things to us—given us this birth announcement."

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
Noah built an altar to God . He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done.

Genesis 13:8
Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family. Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left."

Genesis 14:13
A fugitive came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living at the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. They were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household—there were 318 of them—and chased after the captors all the way to Dan. Abram and his men split into small groups and attacked by night. They chased them as far as Hobah, just north of Damascus. They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.

Genesis 18:1
God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.

Genesis 35:27
Finally, Jacob made it back home to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath Arba, present-day Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived. Isaac was now 180 years old. Isaac breathed his last and died—an old man full of years. He was buried with his family by his sons Esau and Jacob.

Genesis 37:14
He said, "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report." He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.

Joshua 14:13
Joshua blessed him. He gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite still today, because he gave himself totally to God , the God of Israel.

1 Timothy 2:8
Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it.

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.