Judges 1:1

Judah Takes the Lead

1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked 1  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” 2 

Judges 13:13

13:13 The Lord’s messenger told 3  Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. 4 

Judges 13:18

13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” 5 

1 tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

2 tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

3 tn Or “said to.”

4 tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.

5 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.