Prophet Pearls #35 – Naso (Judges 13:2-25)

Prophet Pearls Naso, angel, Yehovah, Judges, Nehemia Gordon, Keith Johnson, Prophets, Samson, Torah portion, vow, Nazarite, Nazir, unclean, Palestine, Palestinian, hoshiah, to save, Manoah, religious, Zorah, Tanakh, torah pearlsIn this episode of Prophet Pearls, Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson discuss the Prophets portion of Naso covering Judges 13:2-25. This portion concerns the birth of Samson and corresponds to the Torah portion which includes the vow of the Nazarite or "Nazir." Gordon explains what made Samson unique as a Nazir as well as different meanings for “unclean.” We learn the history of the name Palestine as well as the “Palestinian” people.

Word studies include “hoshiah/to save” with its root (yud-shin-ayin) and the word-of-the-week, “peli/wonderful, secret, beyond understanding” (pei-lamech-aleph-yud).

With language, history and context in place, intriguing family dynamics and other wringers unfold: What is behind Manoah’s questions to the messenger and why does the angel repeatedly defer to the nameless wife? Why does the wife add to the angel’s message? If the wife clearly sees an angel, why is Manoah unconvinced? Why would the recipient of an angelic visitation name her child “man of the sun”? Gordon reveals religious practices prevalent in Zorah that provide clues and that also support Johnson’s hypothesis for why the Tanakh bestows upon the mother of Samson a most unfavorable status—that of a forgotten name.

"And the angel of Yehovah said to him, Why do you ask thus after my name, seeing it is secret?" Judges 13:18

I look forward to reading your comments! Download Prophet Pearls Naso Transcript
Prophet Pearls #35 - Naso (Judges 13:2-25)

You are listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Nehemia: Welcome to Prophet Pearls, recorded live from the city of the prophets - Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel. This is Nehemia Gordon with Keith Johnson. I am so excited to be exploring biblical prophecy for yesterday, today, and tomorrow, in the city where Isaiah preached in the public squares, in the streets where Zacharia spoke the Word of God, in the very place where Jeremiah prophesied. But today, we’re doing Samson, and I don’t know that he ever was in Jerusalem because at the time, it was a Jebusite city.

Keith: Oh, my goodness. Wow. So this is like old, old time. I mean, we’re way back...

Nehemia: Yes, we’re doing Samson. He wasn’t even born yet in our story.

Keith: Wow. Isn’t that something? So we’re at Judges 13:2. We’re not going to allow it to be 13:2. It’s supposed to be 13:2. Can’t allow it to be 13:2. Why? The verse before it sets the context for why 13:2 is important, in my opinion. So, can I give the first verse?

Nehemia: 13:1, you mean?

Keith: [laughing] Yes. I’d like to give 13:1.

Nehemia: Go ahead. You’re going outside the portion. Go ahead. [laughing]

Keith: I’m going outside – no, I learned from the best, “Now, let’s go to this chapter.” Judges 13:1, “Now the sons of Israel again,” say “again”.

Nehemia: Again.

Keith: “Did evil,” say “evil”.

Nehemia: Evil.

Keith: “In the sight of Yehovah,” say “Yehovah.”

Nehemia: Yehovah.

Keith: “So that Yehovah gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.” If you don’t get that verse, it just seems to me, like starting out in 13:2, you’ve really missed something important. It’s just like one day he decided to do… we’re going to get to what this is, but this sets the context, and what I like about this context is it says again that this is a cycle that was taking place. And again, it shows that Yehovah actually does something, which I have to say is a bit controversial. The controversy for me is that when I read that, it says “He gave them into the hands of the enemies.” So it’s not like the enemies all of a sudden grew up to have some great power…

Nehemia: You’ve overpowered the God of Israel. No.

Keith: No, that is not the case. It says, “He gave them into the hands the Philistines.” And then it gives the amount of time, which it says, “For forty years,” which I think is pretty interesting within itself. We see that over and over again.

Nehemia: I have to say, I can’t read these stories in Judges - and this is true of all of Judges, but especially here - where I hear about God giving over Israel to suffer at the hands of the Palestinians, and not tie it to modern times. I just can’t do it.

Keith: Wait. What do you mean “the hands of the Palestinians”? It’s the Philistines.

Nehemia: Right. But Philistines is “Phlishtim” in Hebrew, and the word “Palestinian” comes from… it’s the same word, it’s from the same derivation.

Keith: That’s interesting. You have to say that, you have to explain that. So you’re saying you can’t read about that in the past and not deal with that.

Nehemia: I just can’t. And there’s a bigger concept here, which is that when Israel sins, God gives us over to suffer at the hands of a foreign nation. This is something we see repeatedly. It’s actually stated more clearly in the first three chapters of Judges, but we see examples of it throughout the Tanakh. We see it with the Babylonians, we see it with the Assyrians, and here we’re seeing it with the Philistines.

Now, the Palestinians today are actually Arabs, and why are they called Palestinians? Because the Romans wanted to strip the land of Israel of its Jewish identity after the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135, and so they renamed the province of Judea, they re-named it Palestina. And Palestina was the… They remembered that there had been these Philistines in this land, and so the Roman pronunciation of Philistia, of the land of the Pileshet in Hebrew, was Palestina. And later, Arabs invaded in the year 638 A.D. and settled here, and there were actually waves of invasions, and there were invasions of Turks and various other peoples, and crusaders. Today, the Palestinians are descendants of different waves of people who came, but they’re called Palestinians because of the Roman name for Judea.

Keith: Well, I’m asking a question. In Arabic, isn’t there an issue with, even the issue of being able to say Philistine?

Nehemia: Right. There’s no “p” in Arabic. So when a Palestinian tries to say in English “Palestinian,” unless he’s very good in English, he’ll say “Balestinian” and “Balestine.” Now, I should say that Palestinians, up until 1964, referred to Jews who lived in the British Mandate of Palestine – in 1917 the British conquer Philistine, it was called under the Turks, they conquer it and they call it Palestine in English, and there were Palestinians who were actually Jews. Arabs were never called Palestinians until around 1964, when they plotted to wipe out the Jews. They said, “Look, Arabs have 22 countries, we can’t call ourselves Arabs. We’ve got to be able to make an exclusive claim to that land where the Jews live.” So they called themselves Palestinians.

Keith: I’ve got to tell you something so interesting about this, and I really wish I was more up-to-date in what the situation was. Last year at our tour - BFA does a tour to Israel, it’s our third year that we’re doing it, about to do it in the next couple weeks - but there was a couple on our tour, and we went to Beit Lechem, Bethlehem, and this is actually their hometown of Bethlehem. They actually are living in the United States and have, what I can say… can I use the word citizenship?

Nehemia: I don’t know. If they are, they are.

Keith: But what was so interesting is they showed me there actually was a passport that said “Palestine” from whenever it was. I really was going through this issue, “So when did this happen? They’re from this particular area,” and in the passport it said Palestine. And I don’t know if you know about that, when it shifted or when it switched or what the exact year was where it shifted, but when she was born, she was born and she’s not Arab. She actually happens to be a Christian from Bethlehem. But that was what was on her actual passport...

Nehemia: Document?

Keith: Yes, on the document.

Nehemia: So basically, up until Israel declared independence in 1948, between 1917-1948, the Land of Israel was called Palestine, and it was British occupied territory. Before that, it was called Philistine under the Turks. But the people here were never called Palestinians, they were Arabs. And this identity of the Palestinians as a separate people is really something that only came about in the 60s. And really, it’s an identity that’s still evolving. Meaning, there will be Israeli Arabs who are citizens of the state of Israel and you’ll ask them, “Are they Palestinians?” Some will say yes, some will say no. Meaning, there’s this evolving identity of this new people, which isn’t so unusual.

Think about it. There was a country called Czechoslovakia, and for 50 years, or however long it was, 100 years, there were people who said, “I’m Czechoslovakian.” Today, no such country exists. Now, there are the Czechs and there are the Slovaks. Anyway.

But Israel is not some recent people from 100 years ago. We were a people that goes back 3,500 years. We were formed in the crucible of Egypt, fashioned in the desert and then brought into the land. And then when we sinned, we were turned over to the Palestinians of old - the Philistines.

Keith: Well, let me say this. Like I said, I couldn’t start on 13:2 without going to 13:1. The actual portion begins in 13:2, and I think it’s kind of interesting how it starts, because it says, “There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah,” and then it says, “and his wife was barren and had borne no children.” And you know, I keep beating this drum and I’m going to beat it again.

Nehemia: Beat it, brother.

Keith: I’m going to beat this drum. So here you read about this, and it starts out and it says, “There was a certain man of Zorah,” and I’m thinking it’s going to be about the man. And then it drops the next phrase, “and his wife was barren,” and then it says, “and bore no children.” Well, if she’s barren, she’s not going to bear any children, right? I mean is pretty obvious.

Nehemia: Now, what’s her name?

Keith: That’s what I was about to say. That’s what I was going to… Let me beat my drum.

Nehemia: I’m sorry. Yes.

Keith: So here’s the storyteller...

Nehemia: I stole your glory. [laughing]

Keith: [laughing] I hate when you do that. But it doesn’t give us her name. And it’s so significant to me because, as we go through the story, there’s a lot about her that still jumps off the page to me that I think I want to be able to make mention to. So we don’t know her name, but we do know she becomes central to this issue, because the angel of the Lord appeared to Zorah. No.

Nehemia: To Zorah? Zorah’s the name of the city.

Keith: No. I’m sorry. Manoah. The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah? No. It says, “The angel of Yehovah appeared to the woman,” it doesn’t even give her name again. Why not her name? “And said to her, ‘Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children.’” Now, I think “children” is an addition of English. You were barren and you have not borne. Nothing has come forth. Is that fair? In other words, when you’re looking at this, I don’t think it says “children.”

Nehemia: Well it says, “velo yaladet,” “you haven’t given birth.”

Keith: Yes. “You haven’t given birth.” Okay.

Nehemia: And that’s an interesting word. It’s a verb that comes from the word “yeled,” which means “child.” So “yaladet,” or “yaldah,” is “she gave birth.” Here it’s “yaladet,” “you gave birth.”

Keith: So it says here, “Behold now, you are barren,” All right, “you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall,” and I think this is such a great phrase, “but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.” Boy, I wonder if that whole phrase - if we see that anywhere else. “But you shall conceive and give birth to a son.” “But you shall conceive and give birth to a son.” Wow.

Nehemia: What do you have?

Keith: No, I’m just saying. When I read that phrase, I’m like, okay, something’s about to happen here. But then it says in the 13:4… unless you want to say something about that, you okay?

Nehemia: No, I’m good.

Keith: Okay. “Now, therefore, be careful,” guard it, keep it, “not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing.” Now, I get the whole not to drink wine or strong drink.

Nehemia: Why?

Keith: Well, let me say what I say I get. She’s about to have this baby, and he’s saying not to drink wine or strong drink, and I’m thinking that’s got to be related to something, we’re going to find out what it is. I’m sure we’ve got a list of verses before we find out what it is, “nor eat any unclean thing.” Well, the unclean thing - maybe I’m making an assumption here - wouldn’t it be automatic that she’s not eating unclean, whether she’s pregnant or not pregnant, that she’s not eating unclean?

Nehemia: So here we’ve got to explain. There are two different meanings of unclean. I think we need to go back to Numbers chapter 6. Can we do that? Because that’s the parallel passage here.

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: It’s actually the passage that is in this week’s Torah portion, and this is the Prophet’s portion that parallels it. But specifically, we just have to read this.

Keith: For those who don’t know, if you’re just now listening for the first time - folks, we did an entire recording of the Torah portions, an entire year of recordings. We did that in 2011 or 12, I never remember the year. People are listening to it every time, every year, every cycle. Now, the cycle is the Prophet portions. And so there’s the Torah portion and there’s the Prophet portion, and Nehemia’s talking about connecting the two. They are connected.

Nehemia: Well, here we can’t even understand the Prophet portion unless we read the Torah. Like, what is this about eating wine? What? That’s because there’s something that’s not being stated here that’s implicit, that if you read Numbers 6 you immediately would recognize, and it’s a key part of the story. And I’m not going to read the whole passage. Go read it yourself. Numbers chapter 6 starting in verse 1. It’s the section of the Nazir. Listen to the Original Torah Pearls and read that section in Numbers 6 starting in verse 1.

Keith: And how do they listen to the Original Torah Pearls?

Nehemia: They can listen to it on nehemiaswall.com and bfainternational.com.

Keith: Awesome.

Nehemia: And it’s talking here about this thing we call the nazir. In English, they call it the nazirite. Nazir is this person who makes a certain type of vow, and during the time of his vow, he has all these rules he has to follow. The most famous of them is he can’t cut his hair, and that becomes a central thing in the story of Samson.

Keith: That’s pretty important, yes.

Nehemia: We’re going to find out this is really about Samson’s birth. But the other thing is he’s not allowed to drink wine. And this is a little bit of a departure, because the rule of the Nazirite is a man decides, “For 13 days,” or any random number, you choose really, it’s up to you, “for 13 days I’m going to be a Nazirite,” and you make this as a vow to Yehovah, and it’s a limited time thing.

Well, Samson is a different situation. He never took a vow. In fact, it’s this angel who is telling his mother, “You have this situation where the boy is going to be a nazirite.” And he’s telling her not to drink wine. Well, it didn’t say anything about that in Numbers 6 because we weren’t dealing there with a lifelong nazirite. We were dealing with a limited-time nazirite.

Keith: That’s interesting.

Nehemia: Yes. To the point where we have to say, “Did such a thing even exist in the Torah? The Torah doesn’t mention it.” So here we’re talking about a different sort of nazirite. Specifically, the nazirite has a sacrifice he brings at the end of his term. Well, with Samson there was no… the term never ended, it was his whole life.

Keith: Isn’t that something.

Nehemia: Yes. And so when we’re dealing here with the issue of uncleanness, the nazir has to maintain a state of ritual cleanness. Now, the average person - you know, you and I - we don’t need to maintain a state of ritual cleanness, that’s not something we’re commanded to do. If we go to the Temple, we’ve got to be ritually clean. So when he’s telling her don’t eat something unclean, he’s not talking about pork, which is an unclean animal. He’s actually talking about something that would make you ritually unclean. That’s my take.

Keith: How do we know that? By the word, or is it something else?

Nehemia: No. I think from exactly what you said. Why would the angel tell her to do something that she’s commanded to do in the Torah? It makes no sense. So what would it mean? It has to be… And this is a distinction, if you read in Leviticus 11, you have two categories. Let me read you the last couple verses of Leviticus 11 so see you see what I’m talking about, because I feel like we’ve been recording all day and you’re not with me. [laughing]

Keith: [laughing] I’m with you.

Nehemia: All right. So Leviticus chapter 11, and here’s where things get complicated, in English we talk about - or even in Hebrew - we’ll say something’s kosher and unkosher. That word never appears in the Tanakh. The word is clean and unclean. But again, there are two different types of things here. Leviticus 11:46-47 says, “These are the instructions concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water, and all creatures that swarm on earth, for distinguishing between the unclean and the clean, between the living things that may be eaten and the living things that may not be eaten.” So there we have things that if you touch them, you’ll become unclean - especially when they’re dead, specifically - and then you have things that you may eat and not eat, and those are two different kinds of things. And so here it’s telling her not to eat something unclean. And presumably, from the context of the nazarite, it’s so that she doesn’t become unclean, and thereby, make the child unclean. Now, you’re right - it’s possible that he’s saying don’t eat pork, but that’s a strange thing for the angel to say.

Keith: Well, I didn’t say for sure. I’m just saying, when she says, “nor eat any unclean thing,” the question becomes, is this something further? Is it beyond that? And I think that’s what you’re saying.

Nehemia: I think so. In other words, that’s my take on it. And if you want to disagree, that’s fine. But my take on it is that because he’s this nazarite and wants to maintain a state of ritual cleanness, she’s getting this sort of commandment that a regular person wouldn’t be required to do. Just like a nazarite wouldn’t drink wine, the nazarite wouldn’t eat something that’s ritually unclean. Even though you and I can eat that, we just can’t eat an unclean species. Does that make any sense?

Keith: So can you give an example of something that would be ritually unclean?

Nehemia: Yes. Well, let me read you this. Numbers 6 verse 7, it says, “Even if his father or mother or his brother or sister should die, he must not defile himself for them, since,” this is the JPS, “since hair set apart for his God is upon his head: throughout his term as nazirite he is consecrated to Yehovah.” And the word is “kadosh,” “holy.”

So what does that mean? That means a nazirite is not allowed to go to a cemetery, because if you touch a grave, you become ritually unclean. He can’t touch a grave, even for his father or mother or his wife he’s not allowed to become ritually unclean, because he’s holy to Yehovah. You’re allowed to touch a grave, you’re allowed to become ritually unclean. The only time that that would be an issue is if you were going to the Temple, then you would go through the process of the purification.

Keith: Right. Yes.

Nehemia: But the nazirite has to maintain a state of ritual purity, whereas you and I don’t. So what’s an example? Let’s say, for example, we’ve got a hamburger, and the hamburger is - how do I put this? Well, I’ll just say it. So a woman who is menstruating, she makes the hamburger, and you and I could eat that, that’s no problem whatsoever. But the nazirite wouldn’t be allowed to eat that, because she makes that ritually unclean by touching it. That’s a whole discussion in Leviticus 15. And therefore, the nazirite wouldn’t be allowed to eat that.

Keith: Okay. Awesome.

Nehemia: Yes. And that’s actually really important, because some people read Leviticus 15 and they don’t understand this whole context. They don’t read the last couple verses of Leviticus 15, and they think, “Oh, the menstruating woman can’t make any of my food. No, that’s only if you’re a nazirite or you’re going to the Temple.

Keith: Exactly. Yes. We did discuss that during the Torah Pearls. I was actually excited that we got into the depth of that, because we talked about some actual practical modern-day examples of where people get confused about that.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: But then, you do see this phrase again in 13:3 from 13:5. “For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son,” he says it once, “you shall conceive and give birth to a son.” Two verses later, “For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son,” and now she goes no further. If she didn’t understand what was going on in verse 4, she probably does understand what’s happening in verse 5 because the connection is, “no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a,” and he’s giving the explanation, “shall be a nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver,” it says, “he shall begin to deliver,” real interesting word there, “to begin to deliver,” “lehoshia,” “Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Nehemia: So you’re just going to gloss past that?

Keith: No. I’m going to just read it first.

Nehemia: Okay.

Keith: So the process of her saying, here’s the son and now here’s what the son is going to do. Again, if we don’t read the first verse, “forty years,” it says that they were handed in… this must that when he comes out...

Nehemia: Year 41, maybe.

Keith: Or maybe not 41.

Nehemia: Or maybe it’s in the middle.

Keith: Yes. Maybe it’s when he gets to the place that he knows what that year is going to be.

Nehemia: Well, and it says, “and he will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” He didn’t finish the process. It was David that finished the process.

Keith: Isn’t that the truth.

Nehemia: Yes. So that verb, lehoshia, to save, that’s pretty cool. Here we have an angel coming and foretelling the birth of a child, and that child has a special status as a nazarite, and we’re told that that child will save Israel.

Keith: Isn’t that amazing.

Nehemia: Wow. That’s pretty cool.

Keith: Hey, folks, if you’ve never read our book A Prayer to Our Father: Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer, it’s a great book. But before that book is a book that... well, let me say this. How can I put this? Let me put it this way. If you haven’t read our book A Prayer to Our Father: Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer, you might want to read it. But before that book, Nehemia, in The Hebrew Yeshua vs. The Greek Jesus, didn’t you address something regarding this, or no?

Nehemia: I don’t remember which book it was in, but it’s in one of the books! [laughing]

Keith: [laughing] I’ve got to be honest...

Nehemia: I got to be honest with you, I’ve written so many books I don’t know what’s in them.

Keith: It’s so funny, it really is kind of funny because we’re here, and we are vexed. We’re getting pushed to the wall, and I’m saying, “You wrote a book?” and I’m thinking, wait, Keith, you’re halfway in a sentence what are you trying to say?

Nehemia: I guess what you’re talking about is in the Gospel of Matthew, where there’s an angel that appears to... [laughing] Okay I think this is...

Keith: Which book are we talking about? [laughing]

Nehemia: I don’t remember which book it’s in, but it’s in one of the books. I don’t remember!

Keith: Are you kidding me? You don’t remember which book it’s in?

Nehemia: I wrote the book over 10 years ago; I don’t remember what’s in it.

Keith: No, it’s phenomenal, because we’re talking about the angel that came to Mary. And it’s really from the manuscript in...

Nehemia: In the Hebrew Matthew.

Keith: The Hebrew Matthew. And it really is a powerful thing because...

Nehemia: Maybe that’s in The Naming of Jesus book. I don’t know. It’s somewhere in there.

Keith: Yes. But the point is...

Nehemia: Read all the books.

Keith: You read all the books.

Keith: But the point is, we talked earlier, and I actually was giving you a softball regarding what the root of the words for salvation and save.

Nehemia: Yes, “lehoshia,” the root is Yud-Shin-Ayin.

Keith: And then, you just talked about this phrase, saying, “He shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to,” and the word deliver in English…

Nehemia:Lehoshia.”

Keith: Or save, yes. And then, again, when we get to...

Nehemia: Oh, it’s “deliver” in English?

Keith: Yes, in English.

Nehemia: In Hebrew, it’s “to save.”

Keith: Yes. It’s “hoshia.” So anyway, it’s awesome.

Nehemia: The angel foretells the birth of the savior.

Keith: Exactly. “Then the woman came…”

Nehemia: Judges chapter 13.

Keith: Here’s where things get really interesting to me, more husband-wife stuff. Husbands and wives, listen upon this one. “Then the woman came and told her husband, saying,” and I think this is interesting, she says this in verse 6, she says, “Ish haElohim,” “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God,” So she gives first the fact that he’s a man of God. Then she goes on to give the explanation of him, saying, “but I will just tell you something, he looked,” like what? A melach, an angel.

Nehemia: Mal’ach.

Keith: A mal’ach, “very awesome,” she says. “And I did not ask him where he came from,” nor where he’s from, “nor did he tell me his name.”

Nehemia: For “very awesome,” the Hebrew is “very terrifying.”

Keith: “Very terrifying.” Wow. Can you imagine having that happen?

Nehemia: Yes. Why does she say he is a man of God? Why doesn’t she just say he’s an angel of God?

Keith: She doesn’t know.

Nehemia: If it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it’s a duck.

Keith: Maybe she’s never seen before or heard, or never had this happening, wasn’t 100% sure.

Nehemia: How does she know it looks like an angel of God?

Keith: Okay. But here’s what’s funny...

Nehemia: If she doesn’t know what an angel of God looks like?

Keith: The story is going to give us another hint about this, which I think is interesting. I want to get to it if we can?

Nehemia: Yes. Go on.

Keith: “But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from the womb,’” and then she adds something really interesting, “to the day of his death.” Now the angel actually didn’t say it, maybe the angel did say it and it’s not in the text.

Nehemia: What’s important is the angel says, “from the womb.” She seems to add, as far as we can tell, “until the day of his death.” Yes, you’re right. Maybe the angel said it; it’s just not recorded. But from what we know, she added...

That reminds me of the story of Adam and Eve, where they were told not to eat of it, and when she’s speaking to… or he was told not to eat of it, but the way she got the message was they weren’t supposed to eat it or even touch it.

Keith: Okay. Now, do you have something you want to say about this before I move on?

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: Go ahead. You don’t have to say something, Nehemia. I mean if you... [laughing]

Nehemia: Well.

Keith: Go ahead.

Nehemia: No. So Numbers 6, we definitely have this idea of this lifelong nazirite, which is unique, this is the only place in the entire Tanakh. Now, in the Septuagint, for example, Samuel, we’re told, is a lifelong nazirite, but that’s not in the Tanakh.

Keith: Yes, in the Septuagint.

Nehemia: Did I say the Septuagint?

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: What did I say? Yes. So in the Septuagint, that would mean possibly two, but...

Keith: Some people don’t know the Septuagint, can you tell them what that is?

Nehemia: That’s the ancient Greek translation of the Tanakh. But yes, that’s what I have. Let’s go on.

Keith: Okay. Now, here’s where things get interesting to me. So she goes to her husband. Let me set this up. She has this amazing thing happen. She gets this word. This is what’s going to happen. She believes it, I guess. She tells him what the deal is. And then Manoah does this. Now, I have to be honest, and husbands and wives that are listening, I ask the question, I would ask the question - if it was me, what would I have said? Andrea comes to me and says, “Hey, I want to let you know - a man of God came, he looked to me like an angel, and he says that we’re going to have a son,” and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. My prayer might not be like Manoah. Manoah’s prayer is, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have…” he doesn’t even question if it happened, he just assumes, “Yes, it happened. But I need something, could you have him come back? Not to tell me if this is really what he said, but that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”

Nehemia: That’s strange, though.

Keith: Are you buying that?

Nehemia: It’s strange.

Keith: [laughing] I just think it’s amazing.

Nehemia: Because they were given the instruction, so what more does he want?

Keith: I think what he’s really trying to say is, “Could you have the man of God come back so I could see for myself?”

Nehemia: So I could see? I think you’re right.

Keith: Well, the reason I think that is a little bit more because as we go through the story. And there’s really something interesting about that - the story starts out by giving us Manoah’s name; it doesn’t give us the wife’s name. But yet the first conversation is from the man of God to the wife.

And I’ve actually had some people talk to me about how women were treated differently, and the ways that women were treated, and they give an example where the angel went to the woman. And I’m like, “Here’s a story right here, where the angel didn’t even go to the husband first, the angel went to her,” and I think that maybe that would have been the end of the story, except that Manoah decided to pray and say, “Yehovah, please let the man of God come back.” And then here comes the answer. It says it in 13:9, Nehemia, it says, “And he answered.” Who did? It just says, “And he answered.” Now, in English, it says, “God listened to the voice of Manoah.” What does it say in Hebrew?

Nehemia: Which verse are we in? [laughing]

Keith: [laughing] Okay. I thought the verse is 9.

Nehemia: All right. Verse 9, “Vayishma haElohim bekol Manoah,” “And God heard the voice of Manoah.”

Keith: Yes. “And He heard the voice of Manoah.”

Nehemia: “And the angel of God came again to the woman, and she was sitting in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her.”

Keith: I think this is funny.

Nehemia: Yes. There is an irony here.

Keith: No - it’s really funny. So first, the angel comes to her, Manoah prays and says, “Please, send him back.” And it even says, “God listened to the prayer of Manoah.” But he sends him back to her! [laughing]

Nehemia: In the prayer, he says, “Let him come to us.” He should have said, “Let him come to me.”

Keith: Yes. Well, either way...

Nehemia: “Us”? Which one of us, Kemosabe, right?

Keith: Kemosabe. Right.

Nehemia: “Who’s ‘we’, Kemosabe?”

Keith: But her husband was not with her. Now, again, this is the kind of stuff I just have to say, Nehemia, that when I’m reading Scripture, this is where I have these slow-down moments.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: Because I slow down and I ask myself, this is a really minor thing, it’s a really minor thing, but, “God listened to the voice.” What was the prayer? “Send the angel to us.” “And the angel of God came again to the woman.” Don’t know her name, but she’s had her second visitation, and she was sitting in the field. And then it lets us know, “but Manoah her husband was not with her.”

Unlike in Genesis chapter 3, where it says, “And she took of the fruit and her husband was with her.” That’s like a sidelight. It lets you know that Adam is sitting right there while she’s going through this. And in this situation, the angel comes, she’s sitting in the field, and her husband is not with her. So what does the woman do? She runs quickly and tells her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me.”

Then what does he do? He’s a smart man, he follows his wife, “and when he came to the man he said to him,” he asked him the question. Now, I wonder if he’s in the same appearance? Is he still appearing like this “awesome angel” that she says? And if so, he asked the question. Now, she already said the man’s come back. What does Manoah do, “Are you the man?” What’s he asking him, “Are you the man?” Of course, he’s the man! You prayed.

Nehemia: Look, he’s skeptical. Come on, let’s be honest.

Keith: Does he look the same? Does he look awesome?

Nehemia: If Andrea came to you today and said, “A man appeared to me, and he looked like an angel,” you’d be calling the doctor and having her evaluated. Am I right?

Keith: I don’t think so.

Nehemia: No? Maybe not. Okay.

Keith: I would definitely want to know, but there is something interesting. And again, I want to get to the fun part here, because in verse 11, he says, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” He doesn’t say, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” “Hey, are you the man who spoke to the woman?” I mean, is that just not weird to you?

Nehemia: No, because the word for woman also means wife in Hebrew.

Keith: Exactly! Ding ding ding! [laughing] So tell the people that.

Nehemia; Right. In other words, he could have said, “Ha’ata ha’ish asher dibarta el ishti?” “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” But he says, “Are you the man who spoke to the wife?” Or the woman. It’s the same word in Hebrew.

Keith: Yes, the wife. Yes.

Nehemia: I don’t know that I’d read anything into that, though.

Keith: I don’t know, I think it’s interesting just knowing that the word is “ha’isha.”

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: And then he says, “Ani.”

Nehemia:Ani,” I am.

Keith: Does he say, “I am” or “I”?

Nehemia: Well, he literally says “I.”

Keith: It says “I.” It doesn’t say…

Nehemia: Yes, there is no word for “am” in biblical Hebrew. “Ani.”

Keith: I am that I am.

Nehemia: All right. But the word “am” is implied, so it’s “I,” okay, “I am.”

Keith: Yes, he says “I.” Then Manoah says the statement of faith, “When your words come to pass,” as I know they know they shall, “what shall be the boy’s mode of life?” And I’m thinking, instead, he’s asking this question, “When your words come to pass, what shall I name the boy?”

Nehemia: That’s not what he’s… that’s not the thing he’s interested in.

Keith: He’s not interested. He’s not asking the boy’s name. Still, he says “what shall be the boy’s…” you know, I think he uses the word “mishpat.” “What shall be the boy’s judgment?”

Nehemia: Which means the law.

Keith: Yes, “of life and his vocation?” Wow.

Nehemia: Vocation? No.

Keith: That’s what it says.

Nehemia:Uma’asehu”, “And his action.”

Keith: And his action. What will he do?

Nehemia: What’s he got to do?

Keith: 13, “So the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Let the…” [laughing]

Nehemia: What? What are you laughing at?

Keith: “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.” He doesn’t...

Poor Manoah. I just have to be honest, poor Manoah. The angel comes, goes to his wife, tells them the situation, then he prays about it, the angel goes back to his wife, and then he sees and he says, “Okay, you spoke to the woman. Now, tell me, what is it that’s going to happen?” And he says, “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.” Doesn’t even talk to him again. He’s not in the conversation.

Nehemia: What are you reading, exactly?

Keith: No, I’m looking here. It’s 13 verse 12.

Nehemia: “Let the woman pay attention”?

Keith: That’s what it says, Nehemia. “So the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.”

Nehemia: See, I was confused. That’s not what it says in the Hebrew at all.

Keith: Exactly! What does it say?

Nehemia: It says, “From all that I…” Is that really what it says?

Keith: Of course, it is.

Nehemia: What? It says, “From all that I said to the woman, you shall diligently guard,” you shall guard, you shall do. In other words, “I already told you what to do. Just do what the woman said, I already told her.” And that’s the exact opposite of what you have.

Keith: Isn’t that something.

Nehemia: Is that common in the translations...?

Keith: “So the angel of the LORD…” let’s look at a couple other translations.

Nehemia: Wait, no, let’s look at the translations. I’m shocked. What translation is that?

Keith: NASB.

Nehemia: Why did they switch it 180 degrees? The JPS has, “The woman must abstain from all the things about which I warned her.” Oh, I see what’s happening here. This is interesting. The last word in the verse is “tishamer,” and it’s ambiguous, the meaning in Hebrew, it could have two possible meanings. It could mean, “you will guard,” or “she will guard.”

Keith: And what’s that based on, Nehemia?

Nehemia: What do you mean? There are two forms in Hebrew that are the same.

Keith: It’s not obvious. Tell the people.

Nehemia: It’s obvious to me.

Keith: No, tell the people.

Nehemia: All right. In Hebrew, you have these four suffixes for future verbs: Alef, Yud, Tav, Nun. And the “Tav” could mean “you” or it could mean “she.”

Keith: Exactly.

Nehemia: And so this is ambiguous, and it could mean “she.” I guess the argument of making it “she” is that the next verse is that she should not drink. But then, again, it could be “you.” Meaning, you want to know what to do? Here’s what you should do. And then it talks about what’s commanded to her. Anyway, yes, this is interesting.

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: But I’m shocked though, your translation is just completely different.

Keith: “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.”

Nehemia: Yes. I don’t know. I see. So they’re doing it with the “she.” Got it. It could be either way. They’re both very possible.

Keith: All right. So it’s not as bad as you thought.

Nehemia: It’s not as bad as I thought. It’s been solved.

Keith: Awesome. But you know what’s really interesting? And I’m not ready to talk about it right now because I think we’re in the middle of the story, but I just think it’s really interesting, Nehemia, that first we said that we’d look at the different translations, you’re like, “Hey, what’s going on here?” And then, immediately, you could look. When you’re looking in Hebrew, you could see, “Oh, I can see what’s going on here.” Why could you see what’s going on here?

Nehemia: I wouldn’t have translated it that way, but I see...

Keith: No, but you can identify what it was that they were struggling with, and they’re looking at a word that potentially could mean “she.”

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: Okay. And then Judges 13:14 says, “She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine…” And again, I think this is grace. I’m going to explain it to you again. “She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink,” Did he not say that earlier?

Nehemia: He did, yes.

Keith: “… nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.” May it be that we would all learn to go according to all that is commanded. “Then Manoah said to the angel of Yehovah,” I think this is kind of funny, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” Now, he’s going to be a host, a good host. I mean here comes the angel, what does the angel do? You’ve done this great work - it’s time to eat. Boy, people can learn something from that. You’ve worked all day, you’ve come and you’ve done all these things. You’ve done five Prophet Pearls, it’s now time for me to take you to eat. And she says…

Nehemia: Oh, I can’t wait.

Keith: “Please let us detain you so that we may…”

Nehemia: You can detain me, Keith, for some lamb or goat.

Keith: Yes. I need that tonight. “And the angel of Yehovah said to Manoah, ‘Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you insist and want to prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to Yehovah.’” And then here comes the statement, “For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yehovah.”

Nehemia: Or I would say, “an angel of Yehovah,” but okay. I guess it could be either.

Keith: He didn’t know. And so Manoah doesn’t know that, at least, at this point, he’s not aware of what’s going on. That’s what it clearly says in the text. We get to the fun part now, “Manoah said to the angel of Yehovah,” simple question. I mean we hear this all through Scripture.

Nehemia: How do you not know he was the angel?! She said he was a man of God who looked like an angel. I’m back to it talks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I don’t understand. It’s like I tell you, “I met a man on the street, and he was wearing a police uniform, and he had a badge and a gun. He looked like a policeman.” So he’s a policeman! Or maybe he’s not, but if you’re telling me he looks like one… I don’t understand.

Keith: Can I throw a little controversy out here?

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: So did Abraham know, when the men of God came, that they were…?

Nehemia: It doesn’t say that they looked like angels. It doesn’t say that. And I don’t know what an angel looks like - that’s another part question.

Keith: She says that.

Nehemia: What does an angel… I understand.

Keith: She says that she thinks it looks like an angel.

Nehemia: What does an angel look like?

Keith: We don’t know.

Nehemia: But she knows that he looks like an angel?

Keith: No. She says, “A man of God came.” So first of all, you must have…

Nehemia: Does he have wings?

Keith: No. Let me say from the text. I think we could argue this. He clearly looks like a man.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: Okay. So from Manoah’s perspective and from her perspective he looks like a man, but there’s something special. At least she sees something special.

Nehemia: This is mysterious.

Keith: No.

Nehemia: It’s mysterious. I want people to go to nehemiaswall.com and post your thoughts. Why did she think he looked like an angel? And how is it, if according to her he looked like an angel, that Manoah can’t figure it out? Someone explain it to me.

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: Please offer your hypotheses, and I’m sure that there’s somebody out there who’s figured it out. Please come share it at nehemiaswall.com.

Keith: Awesome. Don’t waste your time at bfainternational.com with the question.

Nehemia: Please don’t waste your time.

Keith: Please don’t do that. Only go to bfainternational.com not with your theories, but you better have an answer, because I’m telling you we’re going to challenge you.

Nehemia: Okay.

Keith: [laughing] Just kidding. Hey, but it says, “The angel of Yehovah said to him…” Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. We’re missing the key verse.

Nehemia: What verse are you in?

Keith: 17.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: So now Manoah asked the question that we hear in Scripture, “What is your name, so that when your words come to pass…” this is the reason I need to know your name. We may put up a plaque that says, “In honor of the name of…” Is that what he’s saying here?

Nehemia: “That we may honor you.”

Keith: “What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” And what is “may honor you”? Does he want to know the name for that reason?

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: Really? So he can tell the neighbors. So that I can say, this is the angel who came, and this was his name…

Nehemia: Shmuley was here and he spoke the truth, and we must honor him. He wants to know the guy’s name so he can give him honor! His name is whatever it is.

Keith: Okay. Here comes the verse I’ve been saying for three verses, it’s a fun verse.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: This is where I think it really is fun. It says, “But the angel of Yehovah,” and this is clearly the angel of Yehovah, it says in the text, “Why do you ask my name, seeing…” and let’s just look at a few translations here. Folks, I want to have you do something. I want you to get, at least… shut the recording off for a second. Go get a Bible translation. Two translations, it doesn’t matter what they are, and open up to Judges 13:18, and when you open up to Judges 13:18, let’s ask the question, and Nehemia, you do this best, you can do it the fastest, to look at what the other English translations say.

Nehemia: So you want me to do that?

Keith: Yes, right now. While they’re getting their Bibles, let’s look at the KJV, the NIV, the JPS, the NASB, and see what they say. Because in my translation here in the NASB, and from a few sessions ago, we talked about this word, but my translation says, “Why do you ask my name, seeing that it is wonderful?”

Nehemia: So his name is “wonderful”.

Keith: Well, he doesn’t say “that’s my name”.

Nehemia: Oh, “my name is wonderful”. So the King James is, “Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?” Okay.

JPS has, “You must not ask for my name; it is unknowable!” That was NIV you brought.

Keith: No, NASB I brought.

Nehemia: Oh, NASB.

Keith: Give me the NIV.

Nehemia: The NIV, the Nearly Inspired Version, “He replied, ‘Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.’”

The NRSV says, “Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful.” Okay. So we’ve got pretty much… I don’t know.

Keith: Five different options.

Nehemia: But they’re not that different.

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: So what does it say in the Hebrew, Keith? I want you to do the Word of the Week and tell people what is in Hebrew...

Keith: We already did this Word of the Week two weeks ago. We did this exact word.

Nehemia: We did that root, not that word.

Keith: So we didn’t do the word?

Nehemia: Let’s teach them another word from the same root.

Keith: Oh, okay.

Nehemia: Since it’s a keyword, can we do that, please?

Keith: So what do we know? That we’ve got each word, and as my Hebrew teacher… And I’ve got to say something, Nehemia - you, by far, are one of the top two toughest teachers I’ve ever had. One would be you, and one would be the teacher at Hebrew University. [laughing] You’re both from the same root! What is it about you people?

Anyways, he says, “seeing that my name it is wonderful?” And the word itself, let’s see, “puhlai.”

Nehemia:Peli.”

Keith:Peli,” Pei-Lamed-Alef.

Nehemia: Yud.

Keith: And the Yud. And the interesting thing about this is this is actually an adjective. And again...

Nehemia: I don’t accept that.

Keith: You don’t accept that it’s an adjective?

Nehemia: That’s what it says in your computer, but that’s not so clear.

Keith: You don’t think so?

Nehemia: No, it’s not so clear at all. First of all, we’ve got something really unusual here, which is a silent “Alef.” The “Alef” is there. It’s not that unusual. Like, in the word Bereshit, which is the word that means Genesis, you have a silent “Alef.” So this is a silent “Alef,” “peli.” It’s as if the “Alef” isn’t there. It’s not “pel’i.” It’s “peli,” Pei-Alef-Lamed-Yud. And the “Alef” just tells you that “Alef” was there in the root, like in Bereshit, the “Alef” isn’t pronounced.

Keith: So I want to ask you a question, Nehemia. You said, “peli,” why did you not say “feli”?

Nehemia: Yes, “feli” is…

Keith: So it’s “feli.” I caught you! I caught you! I caught you! You said “peli,” it’s “feli”! [laughing]

Nehemia: So if you take the word by itself it’s actually “peli.”

Keith: Yes, but in the...

Nehemia: If we read it in the sentence, you say, “ve’hu feli.” And that has to do with ending the word “hu” with an open consonant, an open... I’m too tired to speak.

Keith: So there are two options.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: So you can have the “pei” sound, or what do you call it, the soft “pei”, or the “fei” sound?

Nehemia: Right.

Keith: And what’s interesting about this, and actually, this is a little small thing - it’s a small thing, but if you’re learning to read Hebrew it’s an important thing. Especially, for people like you, who say, “That’s not how you say it.” So if I was reading this verse and I said, “pei.”

Nehemia: No. You’re reading the verse, and you say, “ve’hu peli,” you’re wrong.

Keith: You’re wrong. You have to be “feli.”

Nehemia: But if I ask you, “What is the name?” You can say, “peli.” That’s correct.

Keith: Here’s what’s interesting about this. As we mentioned, there are the three letters, Pei-Lamed-Alef, and you said you don’t see it as an adjective.

Nehemia: Maybe it’s an adjective. I don’t know.

Keith: I think it’s an adjective. In other words, what else would it be?

Nehemia: So you have these what’s called… It’s complicated. Basically...

Keith: [laughing] It’s complicated.

Nehemia: You have these sentences in Hebrew where there’s no “is.”

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: And it’s a nominative sentence. For example, you say, “hu gadol,” “he is big.”

Keith: He’s big.

Nehemia: So “big” there, I guess, technically is an adjective, but in that sentence, it’s the… you have subject and predicate. So arguably, it’s functioning as a noun.

Keith: “He is big” is an adjective.

Nehemia: Not in Hebrew.

Keith: No, I’m saying...

Nehemia: I guess you could call it an adjective.

Keith: Yes. No, it is...

Nehemia: Linguists argue about these things. Whatever.

Keith: They argue back and forth. But anyway, in this situation, what is wonderful about this word. Did you catch that? What is wonderful about this word, it has been translated into different ways of saying it.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: But I think the question becomes, “What does this mean?”

Nehemia: What does it mean? Yes. So let’s give some examples of where this appears.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: Go ahead, Keith.

Keith: Well, no, you’ve got the computer.

Nehemia: So we’ve got Psalm 119 verse 18.

Keith: Psalm 119 verse 18. Yes.

Nehemia: Right. Where it says, “Uncover my eyes that I may see the wonderful hidden things of your Torah.” That’s from the same root, it’s “nifla’ot” there.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: We talked about in Jeremiah, I think it was…

Keith: That was the one that we just did.

Nehemia: Yes, we just did that a few weeks ago, where God says, “Is anything beyond My ability, is too difficult for Me?” And that’s the same word “yipaleh”, and here it’s “peli,” or “feli,” which is from the same root. So this could really be translated, “it is hidden”, “it is too difficult”, “it is beyond understanding”. All those are correct. It’s this word that has all of those meanings.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: And I’ve actually heard people who say the name of the angel is “Peli,” P-E-L-I. That’s the angel’s name.

Keith: Really?

Nehemia: Yes. But in the context, he’s saying, “No, you can’t know my name. It’s beyond understanding.”

Keith: Yes. Let me tell you what I like about this verse, and I say “like about it” is because this verse is also been used by some people to say, “Well, really the angel is Yehovah, and this is Yehovah saying, ‘My name is too hidden, too amazing; you can never know it.’”

And what if Yehovah would have said that to Moses? Moses says, “What is your name?” And He says, “Look, you can’t even know it. It’s hidden. It’s unpronounceable.”

Nehemia: Unknowable. Ineffable.

Keith: It’s unknowable. And isn’t that interesting, Nehemia? So we go to this verse, and the angel - we don’t know the angel’s name. What is the angel’s name?

Nehemia: We don’t know.

Keith: It clearly doesn’t say, and we don’t know what his name is. But what if Yehovah had said that? “My name is that.” And that’s not what’s happening here. It’s the exact opposite. When Moses asks the question, He tells him exactly what His name is. And He tells them what to tell the people of Israel. “Tell them, when you want to say what My name is, it is this.” And of course, that’s where we get into the issues of understanding what the meaning of His name is. He was, He is, and He shall be, based on understanding just a little bit about the way that He reveals His name to Moses in the language.

Nehemia: Now, can we talk about angels and names?

Keith: Sure.

Nehemia: So what are the angels who are named in the Tanakh, who are they?

Keith: Wow. Michal?

Nehemia: Micha’el or Michael. And?

Keith: Yes. We have...

Nehemia: And Gavriel. Gabriel. Those are the only two angels that are named in the Tanakh that are given names. That’s only in the book of Daniel. In the entire Tanakh there are only two angels that have names, and they’re in the book of Daniel. And in the rest of the Tanakh we don’t have a single angel whose name we know. We have, repeatedly, the statement, “mal’ach Yehovah,” “an angel of Yehovah,” a messenger of Yehovah, or sometimes it’s “the messenger of Yehovah”, “mal’ach Elohim,” “mal’acha Elohim.” Which is interesting - these angels don’t have names until you get to Daniel, then you have two angels in particular circumstances that have names.

I do think it’s interesting that the angel says, “Look, don’t bring me sacrifices.” Whoever this angel is, if you want to offer a sacrifice, he says, “Offer it to Yehovah. Don’t offer it to me.” I think that’s pretty cool. It’s pointing to his...

Keith: Well, I think...

Nehemia: And “mal’ach” means messenger.

Keith: Yes, so he’s a messenger.

Nehemia: He’s pointing to the one who sent him, which is Yehovah. That’s not disputed. Nobody disputes that. He’s saying, “Look, I’m just the messenger. Send it to my boss, Yehovah.”

Keith: Wow.

Nehemia: That’s pretty cool.

Keith: So it says here, after that happens, he asked him the question, he gives the answer, “Then Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock,” on the rock. So I guess it must have been something that was normally...

Nehemia: A famous rock?

Keith: A rock that maybe was...

Nehemia: Was it where the Mayflower landed?

Keith: Who knows? I mean it says “a rock”, “and he performed…” And then it says, and now, this is interesting. So it says, “So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to Yehovah,” and then in English, it says, “and he performed wonders.” What? What wonders? What did he do?

Nehemia: We’re about to find out.

Keith: Ah. “He performed wonders while Manoah…”

Nehemia: And of course, the word is from the same root, “mafli,” from the root Pei-Lamed-Alef.

Keith: Yes. Isn’t that amazing?

Nehemia: So he’s saying, “My name is peli,” and then he does a peli thing.

Keith: I have to say, again, that’s what’s so cool about Hebrew, where you see that there are these words that are connected, puns, et cetera, where there’s this word and that other word, et cetera. And then here comes the wonder, here comes the hidden, here comes the amazing, here comes the wonderful “I can’t figure it out” kind of thing. “For it came about when the flame went up from the altar…” Now, it’s not a rock. If you ask the question, “We offered it on the rock.” Here it says it’s the “altar”.

Nehemia: Well, once you’re offering it on that rock, that rock becomes the altar.

Keith: Exactly. Mizbe’ach.

Nehemia: It’s an unhewn stone.

Keith: And it says here, “and from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of Yehovah ascended in the flame of the altar.” Wow. And Manoah and his wife did what I would probably do, except I probably wouldn’t just fall on my face, that’d be it. They fell on their faces.

Nehemia: You’d have a heart attack.

Keith: Well, they fell on their faces to the ground. Wow. I mean, they had an encounter with this…

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: I think what’s interesting about it to me is that maybe he did show up, and maybe they didn’t know, was it an angel, or is it not an angel? The fact is that he would show up as a man, and we know definitely whatever a man looked like at that time, he must’ve looked like a man, maybe he looked like something else. As you say, why didn’t they know it was an angel?

Nehemia: He has like a man coming with fire out of his head. We don’t know.

Keith: But when this happens everything changes. All of a sudden, he becomes fire. We could do a whole study on that.

Nehemia: Can I read 21 and 22?

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: “And the angel of Yehovah did not again appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew ki mal’ach Yehovah hu.” That he is the angel of Yehovah.

Keith: That’s when he knew?

Nehemia: That’s when he knew. After he goes up in a wisp of smoke, then he knows. “And Manoah said to his wife, ‘We will surely die,” ki Elohim ra’inu “For we have seen God.”

Keith: Wow.

Nehemia: I’ll be honest I’m as confused as Manoah is. Did he see God or did he see the angel? And I think the answer is, you know, we’re almost forced to...

Keith: What do you mean you think the answer is? She gives the answer.

Nehemia: Okay.

Keith: [laughing] I’m just kidding.

Nehemia: No, go on.

Keith: No, no! It says he says...

Nehemia: Read verse 23.

Keith: He says, “We will surely die.” It’s over on the logistics guy. It’s done. We’ve seen God. But his wife said to him, because she’s practical, “If Yehovah had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

Nehemia: Yes. That doesn’t answer the question about whether they saw God or not. Did they see God or did they see an angel?

Keith: They saw an angel. The Bible clearly says...

Nehemia: Then why does he say, “Elohim ra’inu,” “We saw God”?

Keith: Because Manoah’s confused. He’s been confused from the beginning of the story, and that’s why the Angel didn’t go to him first. [laughing]

Nehemia: I have a different answer, which is that the Hebrew word “Elohim” means “God,” but it also means “angels.”

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: And I think we’ve talked about that.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: I think we did. I don’t know. But in any event, we can see that here. What is Manoah talking about? Why does he think if you see God you’ll die? There are definitely religions in the world and ancient pagans who believe that you could see God, and there is no problem with it. We talked about the story of the people who believed that Zeus and Hermes were walking among them in Acts, right? So they didn’t say, “We’re going to die because we saw Zeus or Hermes.” But here is what Manoah knows; he knows Exodus 33:20, “And he said, ‘You cannot see my face, for a man will not see me and live.”

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: “A man cannot see me and live,” God says to Moses. So Manoah says, “Wait a minute, if we saw God, we’re dead.” And Manoah is clearly confused. Or maybe not, maybe he means, “We saw an angel.” But why would you die from seeing an angel? There’s some confusion here.

Keith: Okay. Do me a favor. So you said there’s an example where Elohim is “angels” or “an angel”. Can you give us the example? I need an example. You can’t say that to me. If Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.” And you’re saying that Manoah really isn’t saying God, Manoah’s saying, “We saw…”

Nehemia: I’m saying that’s one possibility.

Keith: I need an example.

Nehemia: Probably the best example that I can give you is going to be with the Witch of Endor, the “Ba’alat ov,” or the spirit mistress. So Saul goes to her, and I’m looking for the passage, give me a minute.

Keith: No problem.

Nehemia: It’s a little difficult because we’re looking for the word “Elohim.” [laughing] It appears pretty much everywhere.

Keith: [laughing] Yes. While you’re doing that, no…

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: While you’re doing that, I was reading it from the perspective of Manoah, who, throughout the story, he steps in at different times looking for the logistics and, “Hey, can we get you something to eat? Hey, what’s your name? Hey, can you come back and explain? I know you already told my wife.” And he’s doing his thing, he’s doing his thing, he’s doing his thing, and then he comes in the end and he says, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”

I say Manoah still is confused. Manoah is being Manoah, and his wife is being practical. We don’t know her name, but boy, she’s practical. She says, “Listen, if Yehovah had desired to kill us, it would have happened a long time ago. He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: I mean, I don’t know.

Nehemia: So my verse here for “Elohim” meaning “an angel” is 1 Samuel 28:13.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: I’m going to read from verse 12, “When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman said to Saul, ‘Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!’ The king said to her, ‘Have no fear; what do you see?’ The woman said to Saul,” this is in the NRSV, “I see a divine being coming up out of the ground.” And in Hebrew, it says, “Elohim ra’iti olim min ha’aretz.” Literally, “Elohim,” plural, “I see coming up out of the earth.” How do I know it’s plural? Because she says “olim,” the verb there is plural.

Keith: Come on with that, brother.

Nehemia: So, “Elohims I see coming up, they are coming up from the ground.” And most people understand that she didn’t see gods, that she actually saw angels. Or what she thought was angels; it turned out it wasn’t angels.

Keith: It’s funny because you also mentioned that sometimes the pagans will say, “Elohim.”

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: And treat it as a different...

Nehemia: Right. They’ll treat it this way, where it’s plural.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: There are perhaps other passages. That’s maybe the clearest one, to me.

Keith: Okay. About that. So he asked this question, and like I said, whatever he was confused about, we know he didn’t see God. We know that he saw this man who morphed into a flame, and that certainly wasn’t God; meaning that wasn’t Yehovah.

Nehemia: Well, according to the gentleman who was speaking to my mother, it was.

Keith: He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And let me just say something about this.

Nehemia: Wait a minute.

Keith: No, I’m being dead serious. Here’s what I… And can I do the Ministry Minute?

Nehemia: Go ahead.

Keith: Because really, this… [laughing] I said something before we started.

Nehemia: We must edit this whole thing out. [laughing]

Keith: No, no. We cannot edit the whole thing. Folks, you’re getting it just the way it came. I deal with this thing, I say, the knowitsomes, and I don’t know anything. I am a neophyte. I just know a little, little, little bit, and what I do know, I always ask myself the question - how does it make a difference in my life? Like, how can this make a difference in my life? And this is not so much the Ministry Minute. I just want to say that one of the things that confuses me is where people don’t always know what the information is, even the stuff they don’t know. There’s some stuff we just don’t know. Is that fair? Some things we just can’t know.

Nehemia: There are libraries full of stuff I don’t know.

Keith: Libraries of things we can’t know. But there are some things that we actually can know. And what always frustrates me, if I can just take my minute, is when it’s something that we don’t know, but it becomes law. Well, this is definitely the case. And sometimes, it just confuses me. That conversation that he’s having with your mother, I don’t know if I could have sat… were you there when they were having the conversation?

Nehemia: Yes. Well, by that time…

Keith: So what did you say?

Nehemia: I was just listening.

Keith: You just sat and let your mom tear him up? [laughing]

Nehemia: I tried to help flush it out, and I asked him, “Does this have to do with the Trinity or not the Trinity?” And my mother was just really confused by what he was saying. And honestly, when it came to that – yes, he seemed a little confused too, to be honest with you.

Keith: Well, can I give the good news of this story?

Nehemia: Sure. What’s the good news?

Keith: Then the woman gave birth to a son. We never hear anything about the son, what his name is going to be, until he’s actually born. “The woman gave birth to a son and she named it,” I think it says this, “named him Samson. And the child grew up and Yehovah blessed him. And the Spirit of Yehovah…” oh, well, actually do we go to 25?

Nehemia: Yes, I believe so.

Keith: Yes. “And the Spirit of Yehovah began to stir him,” Wow, “began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

Nehemia: In the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. Yes.

Keith: Wow. That’s amazing. So I want to ask this question, Nehemia. When you see this, it says, “Let her hear all these things… Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson.” Is there anything that makes you ask the question why his name is Samson, and what the name means?

Nehemia: Well, I know what the name means. It comes to the word “shemesh,” which means “sun.” And he lives in the area of Beit Shemesh, “house of the sun,” people worshiped the sun. It makes me suspicious of her. They have this experience of an angel of Yehovah.

Keith: This is a pearl. Work with this. Go ahead.

Nehemia: But they live in an area where, going back to the time of the Canaanites, people worshiped the sun, and the Israelites learned the ways of the Canaanites. And I’ve got to wonder, after all is said and done, did she name him after the sun, meaning the sun in the sky? And I can imagine a scenario happening where they see this figure, and it impresses them. It goes up in a wisp of smoke, up into the sky, maybe up to the sun. And so they name their son “Samson,” “man of the sun.” It’s a strange name to give the guy. And look, he is this complex figure, Samson.

Keith: He really is.

Nehemia: On the one hand, he has the Spirit of Yehovah, and he is described as a savior of Israel; he’s coming to save Israel. On the other hand, he’s having these relationships with these Philistine women. I mean, we can’t look at Samson and say here is our blameless Messiah, or even someone who follows Torah all that much. On the other hand, he’s a nazarite. He’s not drinking wine; he’s not cutting his hair. He is a complex figure.

Keith: Yes. I will say this, that I do think it’s interesting is it says, “and the child grew up.” You know, it’s really funny. I want to do something that’s really a little bit controversial, and I have the option to do this more times than you can imagine. Because I am a creative person, I really am, I’m a creative person, and I could look at something, and if I had an agenda I could say this, “I’m going to tell you why her name was never mentioned. And I’m going to give you a good reason.” Actually, this would be hard for you to argue that it’s not true, because I can’t show you, and you couldn’t show me…

Nehemia: Can’t prove it one way or another.

Keith: Right. I’m going to tell you the reason why her name was never mentioned is because of the name she gave her son. She gave her son a name for the sun, and because of that she was disqualified of having her name put in the Scripture. [laughing] Sounds completely and utterly ridiculous, but you know what?

Nehemia: It could be.

Keith: It could be. And my point is these are legion, the thousands of times where I’ll see something like this where I could literally make an argument, and it would be hard for you to say it isn’t the case. But can I just go a little further on something?

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: What I do think is, and I think we talked about this, Nehemia, a long time ago. There are a thousand things that we can’t know. But there are a million things that we can know. And if I could just understand the things that we can know, it would take up the rest of my life. And that’s really what I want to focus on, because I have learned, over time, that there are a lot of things that we just can’t know. I don’t need to create some new theology or new denomination or a new following. There’s enough just right here in the text that makes me want to shout.

Nehemia: Can you shout, please?

Keith: Hallelujah! It’s time for the Ministry Minute. Come on give us something, Nehemia.

Nehemia: Yes. My minstry is Makor Hebrew Foundation, website nehemiaswall.com. Come over. Sign up for the free newsletter, join the Support Team and get some of the Support Team Studies. There are some wonderful studies in there. And just come, and there’s just so much you can… there’s hundreds of hours of stuff you can listen to.

Keith: Yes, there is.

Nehemia: Prophet Pearls and Torah Pearls and the podcast; come over, get involved. Post your comments on the website - for each of these episodes, when you’re listening to it, you can also come and post your comments. People are having these intricate discussions that go on, some of them are like 30 pages long. Maybe not write a whole megillah.

Keith: Yes. But definitely put something in.

Nehemia: Yes. Come and share your thoughts. We really want you to be involved in this. It’s not just about me and Keith talking to ourselves, or talking to the wall, we want you to be involved.

Keith: You know it’s funny. You’re getting tired. I can tell you’re tired.

Nehemia: Oh, I am so tired.

Keith: Because normally when you talk about the Ministry Minute, boy, your eyes light up, and you get excited. Now, you’re like, “Oh…” Listen, and you know what, you can be pretty casual about it, but when people get there, they’re going to be excited.

This week you can go the front of bfainternational.com, and you’re going to see Scripture Bytes Biblical Hebrew Audio Course - which means you’re going to get a chance to go and learn really basic Hebrew, understanding the consonants, and the vowels, and some of the other things around it. But the idea is to help you begin to get the tools so that when you hear whether we’re talking about some construction of a word, you can at least interact with that information. We’re putting it initially in the Premium Content Library, partially so that we can have a control group of people that actually will go through the Biblical Hebrew Course. Respond - here’s what’s great about it: you’re going to have an audio of what’s going on and a PDF that you can actually download and go through and tear it up. You can scratch it up. You can say it’s wrong, and we want that. We want those comments because, throughout the summer, we’re going to get comments about this, and hopefully, by the time we start the next portion, the Torah cycle, we’ll have an entire Biblical Hebrew course for beginners that will be made available to all of our registered members.

So we really do need your help. Please, go to the front, you’ll see a course - a lesson will come up every week, week and a half, for you to go through, to respond, and that’ll be right on the front page for all of our Premium Content Library folks. Hopefully, you’ll sign up for that. And if you don’t like it, good news; you can actually sign up for seven days free, no problem. If you don’t like it, you cancel. There aren’t any issues. But this is the second week of having the Biblical Hebrew Audio Course.

Thank you so much, Nehemia, for being such a tough teacher. I went to Hebrew at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. They taught me Hebrew so that I could impress the congregation. “Here’s this word, it’s from the Hebrew.” You know, the preacher gets up and does that. Then, all of the sudden, I see you reading from a Bible and I’m thinking it’s in English because you’re translating it in English, and I look over your shoulder, and it’s Hebrew, and it caused envy and jealousy in me, because I thought, “How can he be reading the book that I’m supposed to understand, and I can’t even interact with it that way?” And over these last 13 years, I at least can interact a little bit, and now, I want to share that with the people so they can do the same thing. So be it? So be it.

Anything else on this section?

Nehemia: I think we got it.

Keith: Okay. Awesome.

Nehemia: Can you end in prayer for us?

Keith: I will end in prayer, and then we’re going to put you to bed because I don’t know if we’re ever going to make it to the Purim party tonight. Father, thank you for us being here. Thank you for the challenges that are in front of us, what we do know and what we don’t know. Help us to be like the wife who accepts it. And even in Manoah, what he did do is he prayed and said, “Give me more. I need to understand more exactly, because if this is You, I want to know exactly what I’m supposed to do.” So for all of us that are listening and all of us that going through this, will You help us to be people that hear it, understand, and then live it? And we thank You in advance for what You’re going to continue to do as we interact with Your word, Your will, and Your way. In Your name, Amen.

Nehemia: Amen.

You have been listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon’s Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

We hope the above transcript has proven to be a helpful resource in your study. While much effort has been taken to provide you with this transcript, it should be noted that the text has not been reviewed by the speakers and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. If you would like to support our efforts to transcribe the teachings on NehemiasWall.com, please visit our support page. All donations are tax-deductible (501c3) and help us empower people around the world with the Hebrew sources of their faith!

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  • James Harris says:

    Hemi, have you considered l..
    When we are taught about the Nazir in the Torah, my understanding is that defilement by the dead ends the vow….and yet, based on the life of Samson, we see how many died in his vicinity and yet that is not a criticism leveled against him in the text. Can you help me understand why Samson’s role as a a Nazir is different in this way? Thank you!

  • donald murphy says:

    Why so much jc stuff??? What is the proof of his existence???

  • Dori Lloyd says:

    I notice that Manoah’s wife actually mentions the NAME, YeHoVaH. The angel said it, she said it, but Manoah never mentions it. Just an observation… 🙂

  • Shelley Greening says:

    I read the whole incident with Manoah WAY differently. I see that Father was validating the (unnamed) woman – the angel came to her. I see that Manoah wasn’t going to believe his wife – after all, he’s the Man, so an angel should come to him. Father heard that prayer, alright, but didn’t quite answer the way Manoah wanted. Father had already told the woman how to raise the child, and Manoah completely discounted that – wanting to get those important instructions himself, because he was “the important one”. So Father put him in his place and validated the woman. “I already told her – that should be good enough for you.”

  • Michael Griffin says:

    Watched a documentary the other day about the Storks in southern Africa. They are scavengers and bees follow them around to carcasses to build their nests within. Never knew how the dead lion had honey inside but it’s a common occurrence! What a lesson, he lusted after the Honey (woman) within the Unclean(Philistines) and it cost him dearly.

  • mnave says:

    Since Yehovah (spirit) cannot be seen, how is it that others in scripture have seen Him? He is seen in visions. He is seen by Moses (part of Him). He is seen by Abraham who negotiates over Sodom.
    Is it possible that Yehovah (spirit) cannot be seen, but Yehovah (physical traits as a man) can be seen, was seen and certainly was seen more than once? Isn’t it possible the “messenger” who is not Yehovah, is accurately translated as “angel” but when the text tells us this messenger is “Yehovah” like it does in Gen 18 or “God” like it does here, then we must conclude there is a spirit form of Yehovah that cannot be seen and live (Ex 33) but a manly form of Yehovah that can indeed be seen?
    I’m struggling with the altar outside of the place prescribed and the rejection of worship unless it has to do with some kind of timing. Perhaps this event is a rejection of worship BECAUSE they were not following Torah? And the reminder by this messenger to offer only to Yehovah was a reminder to follow Torah?

    • Raoul says:

      I always have believed that that Angel is YESHUA, and He is YEHOVAH in physical form………

  • UKJ says:

    Could it be possible, that the type of message revealed the type of messenger … ? Just a thought!

  • Shelley Greening says:

    Oh – we do know the wife’s name! Easy – Sam! (Her son was Sam’sSon)

    Just kidding.

  • Mike says:

    The big question is who came to know of this occurrence and write of it.

  • Shirley Bewley says:

    So, what does Menoah;s name mean? wondering if it shed light, has no importance

  • daniel says:

    Yah forgive me if I’m wrong about this, but I think Samson’s mother played a little loose with the rules while pregnant, thus causing difficulties for Samson all his life. Samson had quite an appetite for many things forbidden him. The angel came back to re-deliver the message, and Manoah seems to be saying ‘…give it to me straight, the wife’s a little goofy.’ She certainly seems more focused on the messenger and not his message. Maybe that’s why her name isn’t mentioned anywhere. Samson eventually rose to the occasion and with his last chance made the Hall of Fame. I always liked Victor Mature in that role, but I think the real Samson must’ve been one awesome holy terror. Awesome, in that few of us would’ve been able to be around him.

    • Shelley Greening says:

      You’re looking askance at “the woman”, speculating that maybe she didn’t follow the instructions and that’s why Samson was, in some ways, a colossal failure – a moral failure, for sure.

      I view it very differently: I suspect that Manoah was full of pride and maybe even narcissistic. He was taken down a notch – not once, not twice, but thrice. Manoah was SO clueless, didn’t even recognize the angel. I speculate that he couldn’t believe that this was an angel – because this messenger came to his wife and not to HIM. Couldn’t be! She’s just “the woman” – he (Manoah) is ‘special’.

      This poor woman received honor and vindication – several times. Manoah…was basically dismissed – several times. This might have been hard on Manoah’s high estimation of himself. Awww, isn’t that sad? The poor narcissist didn’t get to be “front and center” or get his ego stroked.

      Love it! Father is pretty funny sometimes.

  • Joshua Mezzabifera says:

    I find it interesting in Jdg 13:25 that Yehovah began to stir him in the camp between Zorah (Tsorah translated hornet or place of the hornets) and Eshtaol (translated as place of entreaty – petition – request) using the interlinear Gesenius ‘ Hebrew – Chaldee Lexicon. Would these be accurate translations?

  • Katrina R. says:

    I have a question. Why are they offering sacrifices outside of the prescribed place? I thought they weren’t supposed to be doing that.

  • danakushner says:

    Shabbat Shalom!

    Shoftim 13:18
    לָמָּה זֶּה תִּשְׁאַל לִשְׁמִי וְהוּא פֶלִאי:
    “Why do you presently ask for my name; since it is hidden.”
    פֶלִאי=hidden

    Yeshayahu 9:6
    פֶּלֶא=wonder
    כִּי יֶלֶד יֻלַּד לָנוּ בֵּן נִתַּן לָנוּ וַתְּהִי הַמִּשְׂרָה עַל שִׁכְמוֹ וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ אֵל גִּבּוֹר אֲבִי עַד שַׂר שָׁלוֹם:
    For a child has been born to us, a son given to us, and the authority is upon his shoulder, and the wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, “the prince of peace.”

    I need to understand the difference between :
    פֶלִאי and פֶּלֶא

    Can be connected with:
    Romans 16
    24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
    25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
    26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
    27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. (Written to the Romans from Corinthus, and sent by Phebe servant of the church at Cenchrea.)

    A lot of blessing in everything you do!

  • Carla says:

    Why is Menoah’s offer accepted if it is not done at the temple? I have always wondered about this…. isn’t the only acceptable altar the one in the Temple?

  • Don says:

    The angel gives either their name or their description of their name as “pele”. Then they ascended up the column of smoke from the burnt offering. There to me to be a connection to the Hawaiian deity Pele, goddess of volcanoes, whose smoke also ascends upwards, and to whom the natives leave sacrifices. That the name could have crossed the ocean is not difficult, since the Polynesians trace some of their ancestry to Greece, and some of the Greeks descended from the tribe of Dan. The story of Hercules is simply the story of Samson which the tribe of Dan took their with them.

  • Sarah Yocheved says:

    Why did Manoah’s wife think the man looked like a Messenger? (Not angel) Could it be because of the way he was dressed? There were no phones, Internet, or other means of long-distance communication. Messages had to be delivered via a runner, a servant, or such. I would assume that farmers dressed quite differently from someone who served as a Messenger. (Only Someone of wealth would have had the means to deliver a message via a runner–who would probably not be dressed like a farmer.) The woman said it was a man; a man of Elohim. Did she mean “a man of Yehovah?” –like a religious leader. Or was she referring to some other “mighty one? — a ruler, judge, or some other important person of power?
    My guess is that the wife was referring to the way he was dressed.

  • Patricia says:

    When the angel ask why did you ask my name!!! Personally I believe that we are supposed to accept what is said in scripture without questions ‘ I believe we as humans ask too much of questions and this builds doubts in the mind – this question thing is part of satan realm – remember what he ask Eve – did YHWH really say not to eat from every tree from the garden!! And the word every was never used by YAHUWAH – what was use not to eat of this tree but satan can get you to be confused by linking what’s not there he will do it

  • Patricia says:

    I never did understand this story with Samson and his birth

  • Helen du Preez says:

    Shalom! I really enjoyed your prophet pearls! Much learnt there from Hebrew regarding Philistines etc.! Didn’t notice the womans anonimousity! There are a few points I’m pondering on. Firstly the Word clearly says TWICE in Judges13: 4 and verse 14, ” EAT not anything UNCLEAN, so then BOTH Leviticus 11 and Numbers6 needs to be adhered to. Regarding the Hebrew word Peli(Wondrous, beyond understanding, marvelous, etc.) Also in Isaiah9:6 the Hebrew word for Wonderful is pele(6382)-one of the NAMES of Yeshua, which makes me wonder if it was not He who appeared to Manoach and his wife!!?Also in Exodus3:2 “the Angel of the Lord(the Messenger of YHVH) appeared to him(Moses) in a FLAME OF FIRE in a BURNING BUSH”.(?)Shalom DeVorah

  • Hiltona Castleberry says:

    Interesting…just a few nights ago I was watching a movie with Paul Newman call The Exodus and this very thing was happening. I couldn’t figure out what was going on but it’s obviously historic. Thanks Nehemia and Keith for all you do!

    • Patricia says:

      Judges 13:8 will always be a debate because what I find with us we only believe part of the bible and this is a serious problem right here

  • Karla Mitchell says:

    I just wanted to say Thanks again! I have been following your teachings for years and feel Blessed. I continue to learn and grow thru each portion. I know that doing these studies make the Sabbath Day as it should be. Seeking the Truth and wisdom of YHVH. Happy your back in the Land, continuing thought provoking studies each week. Shalom

  • Janice says:

    The fallen angel, Lucifer, was most likely a terfim, a terrifying flame of fire who can take on a another imageIn.

    Adam and Eve were royalty, and there’s protocal. They are to stay within their rolls.Adam protector, provider, visionary, Chava, multiplies, nurtures and I forget the 3rd.

    Females hear from Yehovah as males do, a dream, a vision, a voice; however, we are not to act on our own; need to get husbands (the covering protecor) confirmation. Why? First and foremots, need to stay in order and follow protocal. Anything other than a nother royal person, royaly does not directly speak to; we don’t engage commoners (not royalty). To have hear or listened to the commoner, ok, but we don’t speak to them; we certainly don’t speak to snakes.
    In the case of Menoa, the correct order was followed and a blessing insued, Sampson. She hears an angel, she tells her husband (notice sometims it says a man, someimes angel = ? terafim shape shifter but so is Lucifer or HaSatan; she stays in order (doesn’t act on her own) tells her husband, and he the protecor, needs confirmation. What is the confirmation, that the angel Royal citizen, speaks to him,. This is excellant advice for married couples yes your wife may here from HaShem; it needs the husband protecotrs confirmation; then he give ok to act on it.

    Mirium and Joseph, she hear’s from the angel, tells Joseph, and he also gets a confirmation;and a blessing comes, Yeshua, for He will save His people. This is like Sampson, born Nazir for life; who is to begin delivering/saving his people from the Philistines, took a King, David to finish the job. He does, but it’s not permanent, as he dies, and the trouble arises from another source.

    But, with Yeshua, though cruicfied, passed through death, rose to new life, he was Yeshua Ben Joseph, first the servant, and will return Yeshua Ben David.
    And as He was the perfect Lamb of Yehovah, His conquoring of our enemies as Yeshua Ben David; will be eternal.

  • It was mentioned that the unhewn rock essentially served as the altar in this case. How is this acceptable considering the instructions Yehovah gives about sacrificing only at the Tent of Meeting (Lev 17:3-5)? The period of the judges is during the time of the Tabernacle between Moses and Solomon before the first Temple. My question is: Why was Manoah’s offering accepted? After all, the angel didn’t command the offering and certainly didn’t command Manoah to offer it there on a rock. He simply says in vs 16, “But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to Yehovah.” The angel of God wouldn’t contradict the Torah. But then I wonder: maybe it’s presumptuous to assume that the angel going up in the fire indicates acceptance. It is stated in vs 21 that the angel appeared no more to them. Maybe they would have had further revelation had they obeyed Torah?

  • Jonathan Lankford says:

    I’m so glad you guys spend some time on the angel. I have looked up all of the references to the angel of the LORD and the angel of God in the Tanakh. I know that the message of angels is considered a mesage from Yehovah, but is there any time an angel is considered Yehovah himself, in or outside of the Tanakh? The closes thing I come up with is the appearance of the three angels to Abraham before the destruction of Sodom. One of the angels seems to be Yehovah; or is he just carrying the message of Yehovah?

    I read beyond the Torah portion to Numbers 12 and found that Yehovah spoke directly to Miriam and Aaron in the presence of Moses. But there is no angel intermediary this time – it’s direct.

  • Christopher Gordon says:

    A Nazirite also can’t eat grapes, no? Perhaps the angel was referring to grapes and raisins?

  • Kimberly says:

    Regarding whether El means YHVH or an angel; I do wonder whether there was any belief that one would die from seeing an angel — I don’t know enough history to know that. Also, if YHVH can manifest His presence in fire on a mountain top, a bush that burns but is not consumed, pillar of cloud, smoke, shekinah, etc. Why not also in human form? Seems like this story, Jacob’s wrestling (he also “saw “God” and lived”), and Abraham’s visitors support this possibility.

  • yo4967 says:

    Ok I have a theory about how Manoah knew she was speaking to a man of G-d. This may seem out of the realm of possibility but here it goes… On my 18th birthday I was in a horrific car accident. Suffice it to say I was not living right or, “just”. I was broadsided by a drunk driver after my car stalled while trying to make a left turn onto an interstate. I had to tell you the premise in order to tell you this.
    I sustained severe head wound and major bone injuries, as well as, burns. I was in shock. I got out of the car which was a miracle. I was walking and then running because I overheard someone say it could start on fire (there was gas leaking on the highway) Someone I knew (whom was a RN) convinced me to lie down. Someone had called an ambulance. I was fighting to stay conscious. Finally the EMT’s arrive and I could feel myself losing consciousness. I could hear people most of whom were friends of mine. I remember the EMT’s working on me assessing my injuries. They were asking redundant questions like what day was it, what time it was, can i count to twenty backwards. All of the sudden I heard one EMT say to the other, “I’m losing her.” I was above myself listening and watching everyone standing around me crying and saying, she’s not going to make it.” I saw the EMT’s shock me but, while this was going on I went to this bright and vibrant colored place. I remember marveling at the colors. I heard and understood this bright light or, feeling it was the most loving, the most warmth I had ever felt. I knew “it” or, someone, or, that light to be someone telling me to read. So I did. I sat under this tree, this huge tree in a field, and commenced to read. Guess what I was reading? Bible.
    I could go into more detail but I knew who it was. Without saying a spoken word I understood whom it was.
    Some can discount this as or, me as a kook or crazy or just my imagination but, I didn’t want to leave that love, that warmth, that light.
    Then as quickly as I was there… I heard my mother calling me I was trying to answer her. I was back lying on the side of the highway in excruciating pain.
    Another freaky thing my mother who at the time lived in another state called my father and told him to go to the hospital, and that I was in an accident. My father beat the ambulance to the hospital?
    So how did Menoah know? Believe me you know.

    • Kter says:

      Totally believe you. I have had visions of Yeshua (at the times when I also called Him Jesus) and have a relationship with Father – and the most awesome Teaching from Him.

      Matthew 23:8-10 is one of my oft quoted scriptures that my ONLY Teacher is Yehovah .I pray a lot like Shaul (Paul) in another Tongue(s) and believe Zepheniah 3:9 refers to the ONE language which is sourced in the ONE Ruach Kadosh…The Breath of Yehovah…

  • Tyler Shaul says:

    You mention for folks who have a theory about why the wife of Menoach knew the Man was an angel and why Menoach was unaware for their theories: After reading in context this angel, “Wonderful/Hidden” comes to her with information I assume is private to her. “Listen! You are barren, and haven’t had a child……..(13:3). The way I understand it Gen 30:1 and Deut 7:14 adds to my belief that being childless is a curse. If I was in Menoach’s wife’s position I would keep this to myself. If she did keep it to herself then that means that this “Man” knew things that she had not told anyone. If I was her and he told me something I had kept to myself I would be very frightened. How would you feel if someone you do not know essentially read your mind? This might add to why she knew he was more divine then her husband, Menoach. This along with his countenance. The angel revealed a personal revelation to her that potentially Menoach could not relate to. Just a thought. On the other hand depending on how long she was childless, the lack of a child would be evidence enough that she was childless to others……………But the angle to her was still a perfect stranger.

  • Jacqueline Schneller says:

    It was the countenance of the angel that got to think he was an angel.. the countenance of the man …

  • Jacqueline Schneller says:

    Could it be the reason the verse .. all that I have said to the woman.. Well the angel did speak to the woman not the man to begin with.. and the man is only hearing what the angel said thru the wife.. it could be that the angel is saying.. I have said everything to your wife, make sure that she follows all I have said to her.. Just a thought.

  • Paul West says:

    I could not help being drawn to the passage in Isaiah that also refers to the promised son whose name would be called Wonderful. “Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
    Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
    Could Samson be a forshadow or a type of this? Also interesting that Samson gave his life (for his people?) at the end when he collapsed the temple of Dagon.

  • joann drucker says:

    I am listening to this Prophet Pearls episode and you mention for people if they have a theory about why the wife new the man was an angel and why the husband was not sure for us to post our theories here so here goes: I think the reason the wife knew is maybe she was spiritually deeper than her husband and maybe the reason why after Minoa prayed for the man of God to come back and give more information that instead of coming to the husband he again only came to the wife was because she was able to perceive that the man of God was an angel… maybe I am wrong? :–) just a guess…

  • Karen Powell says:

    Daniel gives a description of just a vision of Gabriel 🙂 I his I’m on a Mission and I’m not playing look Daniel 10:5,6,7,8,9. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, who’s loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: (So from all appearances it is humanoid and wearing recognizable clothing of a priestly sort (no wings mentioned) then it becomes more like what Samson’s mother is referencing. His body was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. Daniel described that the men who did not see the vision was quaking and Daniel became as asleep. Yet during Mary’s visitation. Gabriel is not described in a terrifying form. But, When he was interacting with Zechariah in the Temple. Gabriel is serious, and a being of few words, and not a being that is doubted. If Gabriel had appeared in the same way he had to Daniel. Zechariah might have been a little less doubting. So sometimes they may look and sound more humanoid and other times be more as they actually are. As for the name issue. It maybe wonderful or without comprehension or maybe, like those who receive the sapho stone. Maybe, the angelic being is not suppose to disclose it’s name.

    • oh I love this very practical explanation. I especially like that last sentence. That makes so much sense since Menoah had mentioned his intention for giving honor/glory to him for the message. And since good angels do not accept glory and always point toward Yehovah and/or the Messiah it may have been he was directed not to give his name so it would not be glorified in the story that would be told for generations.
      I believe her name is not mentioned because it is not part of a genealogy that is significant to Yehovah’s plan. Sampson had a purpose but he was not a major part of the ultimate plan of salvation.
      Some mentioned that the sacrifice took place before the law was given but also from what I understand there were certain sacrifices that could take place outside and even outside of Jerusalem.

    • Also maybe the term “unknowable” may be used as with the definition as notable instead of knowledge, And secret like hidden from notoriety.

  • Joseph S. says:

    Nehemiah, I’ve prayed and will be praying for your protection from the enemy on your way to Zion.