Judges 13:12

Jdg 13:12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and [how] shall we do unto him?

Ver. 12. How shall we order the child?] Or, What shall be his office and his work? This their solicitude about the child was very commendable. Let it be parents’ care, that

“ Ipsa Deo blandos fundant cunabula flores. ” - Virg.

Careless parents are a kind of parricides, peremptores potius quam parentes, saith Bernard.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 13:12. Now let thy words come to pass — Or, thy words shall come to pass. I firmly believe thy promises shall be fulfilled. How shall we order the child? — Houbigant renders this, What shall be the method of educating the child? What rules shall we observe in bringing him up? How shall we do unto him? — What profession shall we prepare him for, or how shall we instruct him, so as to make him fit to be the deliverer of Israel?

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(12) How shall we order the child . . .?—The literal rendering is given in the margin, What shall be the ordering (mishpat; LXX., krima) of the child, and his work?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Now let thy words come to pass] The marg. is to be preferred; for a conditional clause without the conditional particle in Hebrew cf. Num_12:14, and see Driver, Tenses, § 155. To relieve the obscurity, it is proposed to read ‘eth for ‘attah, ‘at the time when’ (König, Syntax, § 385 k), but this is a rather poetical and late construction, Deu_32:35, Job_6:17 etc.

the manner] i.e. what description of child shall he be? cf. 2Ki_1:7. By his work is meant business, occupation, cf. Gen_46:33, 1Sa_25:2 RVm. Cf. St.Luk_1:66.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Manoah said, now let thy words come to pass,.... Which was not only a wish that they might, but a prayer of faith that they would come pass:

how shall we order the child? and how shall we do unto him? he believed a child would be born, and as he was to be a Nazarite, he knew what were the rules and orders to be observed concerning one in common; but as he was to be an extraordinary one, he was desirous of knowing what particular laws and rules were to be observed with respect to him, or what more was to be done to him than to another: the words may be rendered, as in the margin of our Bibles, "what shall be the judgment of the child, and his work?" and seems to relate not to what should be done to it, but what that should do; for being an extraordinary Nazarite, he supposed that some extraordinary work would be done by him, and he was curious to know it; and so Abarbinel interprets it of his request to know things future and wonderful, that should be done after the child was grown up; but this the angel chose not to inform him of, since it might have been prejudicial to them, should the Philistines get knowledge that this child would be a judge and saviour of Israel, and do such and such things to them as he did, they would have sought to have slain his wife while she bare him, or the child when born; and it may be observed, that though the angel told the woman at first, that he should "begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines", Jdg 13:5, yet she said nothing of it to her husband, nor did the angel repeat it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Translate, “What shall be the manner (or ordering) of the child, and what shall be his work (or exploits).” The original message of the Angel had given information on these two points:

(1) how the child was to be brought up, namely, as a Nazarite;

(2) what he should do, namely, begin to deliver Israel.

Manoah desires to have the information repeated (compare 1Sa 17:26-27, 1Sa 17:30). Accordingly, in Jdg 13:13 the Angel refers to, and enlarges upon, his former injunctions.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Himself. Hebrew and Septuagint, "What shall be the judgment (education; Calmet) of the boy, and what his works? (or Protestants) how shall we do unto him?" (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Let thy words come to pass; or, thy words shall come to pass; I firmly believe that thy promises shall be fulfilled.

How shall we order the child? what rules shall we observe about his education?

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Manoah said — Manoah’s words are not correctly rendered in our English version, but should read, Now thy words shall come to pass; what shall be the manner of the child and his work? The former sentence has the relation of a protasis to the following, as, When thy words come to pass, what shall be, etc.? By the manner and work of the child, Manoah meant both their manner and work towards their son, as expressed in the English version, and also his manner and work towards them and Israel. The Angel answers so far as their work is concerned, but leaves it for the future to tell the rest.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let thy words come, etc. The verb is singular in the Hebrew here and in ver. 17. Possibly the true reading is word, as in the Septuagint. If the text is correct, words must be taken collectively, as making one promise. The saying marks Manoah"s earnest desire for a son. Some, however, construe it, If thy words come. How shall we order, etc. literally, What will be the manner of the child, and what will be his doing? i.e. either, What will be his manner, (cf. 1Sa_8:11, and following verses) and what will be his action or work? or, What will be his proper treatment, and what shall be done to him? The former is the most natural rendering of the words, and though the latter seems at first more suitable to the angel"s reply, yet if we take the angel"s reply as referring Manoah to what he had said before in vers. 4 and 5, we have a distinct answer to the questions. His manner will be to live as a Nazarite, and his action or work will be to begin to deliver Israel. (cf. Gen_16:12, where both the manner and the action of Ishmael are foretold) In fact, Manoah"s question refers directly to vers. 4 and 5, and is a request to have a confirmation of what was then said; just as David asked again and again, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine?. (1Sa_17:26, 1Sa_17:30)

Vers. 12-14. Parental anxiety and its satisfying.

Questions of great importance, which every parent ought to study. Circumstances may occur that render the responsibility of the parent peculiarly heavy.

I ALL PARENTS, OR THOSE ABOUT TO BE PARENTS, SHOULD BRING THEIR PARENTAL CARES TO GOD.

1. It will relieve anxiety.

2. The sense of moral responsibility will be deepened and confirmed.

3. Direction will be given for duty and usefulness.

II THE BEST SAFEGUARD OF THE CHILD IS THE CONSECRATION OF THE PARENT. To regard the child-blessing as a trust. To seek the benefit of others through that which is a joy and gratification to oneself. To keep oneself pure and temperate, that no taint or evil tendency may pass to one"s posterity, and that in oneself, as in one"s children, God may be glorified. M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let thy words - Or, thy words shall come to pass: I firmly believe thy promises shall be fulfilled. How - What rules shall we observe about his education?

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

your words

"what you have said"

anything that comes from the vines

Here the angel refers to any food that grow on a vine as "coming" from the vine. AT: "anything that grows on a vine" (See: Metonymy)

unclean

Something that Yahweh has stated is unfit to eat is spoken of as if it were physically unclean. See how you translated this phrase in Judges 13:7. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

angel

Yahweh

vine

wine

strong drink

law

declare

clean

obey

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

What regulations must we follow with the boy? How shall we treat him? What should appropriately be done with the boy, what must we do with him?

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.