Judges 13:16

Jdg 13:16 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.

Ver. 16. I will not eat of thy bread.] I need it not, as you mortal wights do, since Animantis cuiusque vita in fuga est, your life must be upheld by food, but not so mine: I am more than a creature. It is by degrees that Christ revealeth himself.

And if thou wilt offer a burnt offering.] Thou must be a willing offerer: God straineth upon no man. Virtus nolentium nulla est.

Thou must offer it unto the Lord.] And therefore to me, who am Aυτοθεος, very God.

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.

Showing, that he sought not his own honor but God’s, whose messenger he was.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. I will not eat of thy bread] As I am a spiritual being, I subsist not by earthly food.

And if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering] Neither shall I receive that homage which belongs to God; thou must therefore offer thy burnt-offering to Jehovah.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) Thou must offer it unto the Lord.—Rather, a burnt offering unto the Lord thou mayest offer it. (Comp. Jdg_6:20.) Angels invariably discourage and reprove that “worship of angels” (Col_2:18), which was the tendency of early Gnostic sects (Daniel 10; Rev_19:10; Rev_22:8). The angel might have partaken of earthly food, as we see from Gen_18:8; Gen_19:3. Hence Milton says:—

“Food alike these pure

Intelligential substances require,

As doth your rational.”—Par. Lost, 5:418.

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

16. I will not eat of thy bread] in the general sense of food; cf. Gen_3:19; Gen_47:12, 1Sa_14:24, Psa_136:25. Note the advance in religious ideas: in Gen_18:8 the Angels eat the meal which Abraham provides; in ch. Jdg_6:18 ff. Gideon is allowed to prepare and cook a meal, but it is consumed by fire, not by the Angel; here the very notion of a meal is repelled (cf. Tob_12:19); if anything is to be presented it must be a burnt offering, and offered to Jehovah. The clause For M. knew not etc. would come more suitably at the end of Jdg_13:15.

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 the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah,.... In answer to his request:

though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; that is, should he be prevailed upon to stay awhile with him, until an entertainment should be got ready, he would not eat of any of his provisions; for "bread" is put for all eatables, or whatsoever he might provide for the entertainment:

and if, or "but if" (n).

thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord; if he meant to provide not a festival entertainment, but a sacrifice, then he should take care that he did not offer it to strange gods, as was now very much the custom with Israel in this their time of apostasy, Jdg 13:1 but to the true Jehovah, and not to a servant of his, a prophet or an angel, but to himself:

for Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord; he took him to be a man, a prophet sent of God, and not an angel; and much less the uncreated one, to whom as such only the sacrifice could be offered.

(n) "si autem", V. L. "quod si", Tigurine version; "sin autem", Junius & Tremellius; "si vero", Piscator.

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

Bread is put for all sorts of food. Angels eat none, Tobias xii. 19. (Menochius)

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).

Bread, i.e. meat, as bread is commonly taken in Scripture.

Unto the Lord; not unto a man, as now thou apprehendest me to be; but unto the Lord, as thou wilt by and by perceive me to be.

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

16. I will not eat of thy bread — But the same Angel did eat of the food (Gen_18:8) which Abraham prepared; why not do the same with Manoah? Abraham, we may answer, was “heir of the world,” (Rom_4:13,) and a far more important person in the history of the Old Covenant than Manoah, and so with him the Jehovah-Angel might well come into closer fellowship than with other saints.

For Manoah knew not — This statement is given as a reason for the Angel’s suggestion that Manoah might, perhaps, now appropriately offer a burnt offering to Jehovah. He does not tell him that he is the Angel Jehovah, but he powerfully suggests that thought to the mind of Manoah, and thus leads the latter to inquire after his name.

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

I will not eat of thy bread, etc. The angel refuses to eat of his meat, but suggests that if he would offer the kid as a burnt offering, he must offer it to the Lord. The angel, perhaps perceiving that Manoah was in doubt as to who he might be, had a holy dread lest he might offer the kid to him, just as the angel whom St. John was about to worship said, "See thou do it not"; (Rev_22:9) and Barnabas and Paul ran in among the people of Lycaonia to restrain them from offering sacrifice to them. (Act_14:14-18) The order of the words, which is rightly given in the A.V, makes it a clear direction to offer the sacrifice to no one but the Lord.

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

Bread - That is, meat, as bread is commonly taken in scripture. To the Lord - Not unto a man, as thou apprehendest me to be; but unto the Lord, as thou wilt by and by perceive me to be.

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

The angel of the Lord replied, "If thou wilt detain me (sc., that I may eat), I will not eat of thy food (אכל with בּ, to eat thereat, i.e., thereof, as in Exo 12:43; Lev 22:11); but if thou wilt prepare a burnt-offering for Jehovah, then offer it."

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)