Bible Strands
Judges 13:16
And the angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The angel of the LORD responds to Manoah’s request to remain for a meal, directing him to prepare a burnt offering to the LORD instead. This reply follows Manoah’s initial invitation in Judges 13:15 and precedes Manoah’s question about the angel’s name in Judges 13:17.
The words — The text foregrounds תַּעְצְרֵ֙/נִי (ta'.tze.Re./ni), “you will detain me,” and אִם (’im), “if,” structuring the angel’s conditional refusal of human hospitality. מַלְאַ֨ךְ (mal.'Akh) and יְהוָ֜ה (Yah.weh) explicitly identify the speaker as the angel of Yahweh.
The thread — The command to offer a burnt offering to the LORD rather than accept food mirrors the angel’s instructions to Gideon in Judges 6:20 and Judges 6:26, where divine worship supersedes human provision. The narrative continues in Judges 13:23, where Manoah’s wife interprets the LORD’s acceptance of the offering as confirmation of His favorable intent.
Why it lands — The verse establishes that divine presence operates independently of human sustenance and requires worship to be directed to God alone. It demands the reader abandon reliance on personal hospitality or understanding and submit to God’s prescribed method of approach.
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 the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord.
Cross-references
- Judges 13:23 But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.”
- Judges 6:20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
- Judges 6:26 Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.”