The Angel With the Wonderful Name: Jesus in Judges 13

This article is part of a series on Old Testament Christophanies. For important background information, see An Introduction to Old Testament Christophanies–with Justin Martyr. 

By the time we get to Judges 13, several judges had come and gone since Gideon. Once again, the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so He handed them over to the Philistines. And once again, the Lord came down to raise up another judge. Only this time, He visited the future judge’s parents.

The future parents were Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, and his barren wife. The Angel first visited Manoah’s wife:

Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son . . .” (Judg 13:3).

During Yahweh’s visit with Abraham in Genesis 18, He declared that Sarah (who was too old to conceive) would soon have a son (v. 10). Now He gave Manoah’s wife a similar promise. We later read that the Angel had a wonderful name. Surely, He does wonderful things.

The Angel instructed Manoah’s wife not to drink wine or other alcoholic drinks, nor to eat anything unclean, and that her son’s hair was never to be cut, since he was to be a Nazirite from the womb.[1] The Angel then declared that her son would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Manoah’s wife told him she was visited by a “man” who looked like “the angel of God, very awesome.” The text makes a point to inform us that Manoah’s wife didn’t ask where the Angel came from, nor did He give His name. After hearing about the Angel’s message, Manoah asked the Lord to send the visitor again. God listened to Manoah. The Angel visited Manoah’s wife while she was sitting alone in a field, so she ran to get her husband. When he arrived, Manoah asked the angel if he was the “man” who had spoken to his wife, and the Angel confirmed that He was (vv. 4–11). The Geneva Bible explains that Manoah “calls him man, because he so seemed, but he was Christ the eternal Word, which at his appointed time became man.”[2]

Manoah asked the Angel what the boy’s way of life and vocation would be. The Angel confirmed what He had told Manoah’s wife, then He stated that she was to observe all that He commanded (vv. 12–14). The commands, which came directly from the Angel, had divine authority.

Manoah invited the Angel to stay while he and his wife prepared a young goat for Him. The Angel answered that He would not eat the food, but Manoah and his wife could prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh. Then, the text makes an intriguing note: “For Manoah did not know he was the angel of the Lord” (vv. 15–16). The point of the note is that the Angel of Yahweh was Himself Yahweh. But because Manoah didn’t know he was speaking to the Angel of Yahweh, the Angel said an offering could be made to Yahweh. If Manoah knew who he was speaking to, the Angel could have accepted the offering directly, as He did in Judges 6:18.

Manoah asked the Angel for His name, so that He could be honored when His words came to pass. The Angel replied, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” (vv. 17–18). The Hebrew adjective pil’iy, translated as “wonderful” here, also refers to something being incomprehensible. The only other biblical use of pil’iy is found in Psalm 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as “wonderful,” high, and unattainable. The Angel’s name signifies His divine nature, one that is both wonderful and impossible to fully comprehend. Had He given His name, it may have been the same one He gave to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod 3:14). The noun form of pil’iy (pele) is used to name the Messiah “Wonderful” in Isaiah 9:6. Poole concluded that the Angel’s name being called “wonderful” in Judges 13:18, “shows that this was the Angel of the covenant, the Son of God.”[3]

Manoah offered the young goat and the grain offering on the rock to the Lord, and then Manoah and his wife watched Him perform wonders (v. 19). It isn’t clear in the Hebrew who worked the wonders. Some translations add “Him,” in reference to Yahweh. Others add “the angel” to the verse so that He is made the wonder worker. The Septuagint reads, “to the LORD, to the One who works wonders.” Regardless, it is correct to conclude that the Angel, who is Yahweh, performed the wonders. In verse 19, “wonders” is translated from the Hebrew pala, which is the root word for pil’iy. Thus, the text links the Angel working wonders with the Angel’s name being wonderful. We next read of flames coming up from the altar (v. 20). One of the Angel’s wonders was to bring forth fire from the rock to consume the offering, as He did in Judges 6:21.

When the flames went up from the altar toward heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in them. Manoah and his wife beheld this wonder, leading them to fall on their faces to the ground (v. 20). The Angel ascended as He had done on many occasions before. The flames were likely made of His own burning glory. Manoah and his wife got to see a preview of the ascension of the glorified Jesus Christ.  

The Angel no longer appeared to Manoah and his wife. At this point, Manoah knew their visitor was “the angel of the Lord.” With that understanding, Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God” (vv. 21–22). Manoah understood what Gideon had, that to see the Angel of Yahweh was to see Yahweh (Judg 6:22). But as was the case with Gideon, Manoah and his wife were spared death because they saw the Son, and not the unveiled glory of the Father.

Some try to argue that Manoah only thought he had seen a god and not the one true God. For example, while virtually all English translations render elohim as “God” in Judges 13:22, the New English Translation (NET) translates elohim as “supernatural being.” But in verse 23, Manoah’s wife assured her husband that “Yahweh” wouldn’t kill them since He accepted their offering and because of what they saw and heard from Him. The natural reading is that Yahweh was the God Manoah feared they had seen. This means that the Angel was no little “god,” or some lesser supernatural being, but Yahweh God. The narrative makes perfect sense once we understand that the Angel was God while also speaking for God. He was God the Son.

Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. As he grew up, the Lord blessed Samson, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir in him while he lived in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol (vv. 24–25). Despite falling into serious sin, Samson was used mightily by the Lord. He began to deliver Israel from the Philistines, just as the Son of God had promised. Along with Gideon, Samson is listed as one of the great men and women of faith in Hebrews 11.

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[1] For information on the Nazirite vow, see Numbers 6:1–21.

[2] Study note on Judges 13:11, in The Geneva Bible.

[3] Poole, Annotations, 1:488.