Bible Strands
Judges 13:11
So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” “I am,” he said.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Manoah approaches the divine visitor after his wife runs to fetch him, asking, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” The exchange occurs at the precise moment the visitor reappears following his wife’s report in Judges 13:10.
The words — וַ/יָּקָם (va/i.Ya.kom) means “and he arose,” denoting Manoah’s immediate physical response. אַחֲרֵי ('a.cha.Rei) translates to “after,” specifying that he followed his wife to the site of the encounter.
The thread — The sequence of a heavenly messenger appearing, departing, and being pursued by a human parallels the Gideon narrative in Judges 6:11-16. Both accounts establish a pattern where divine encounters require human initiative to confirm.
Why it lands — The text records Manoah verifying a supernatural claim through direct confrontation rather than accepting his wife’s testimony alone. It requires readers to treat divine communication as a matter demanding personal inquiry and factual confirmation before proceeding.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.