Thursday, February 05, 2004
Judges 13 - Manoah's wife
The four-chapter story of Samson poses significant problems -- strength residing in hair seems more magical than spiritual; Samson, himself, seems far from the brightest star in the firmament, suffering as he does from the bimbo factor; and the climactic slaughter of women and men at the end is abhorrent. But the birth narrative as the story opens is lovely.
The protagonist is Samson's mother. We never hear her name, typical of the sexism of many Scripture texts, but she rules!
Judges 13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren, having borne no children. 3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her....
.... good news, "you shall conceive and bear a son." (Judges 13:3) and he instructed her that her son was to be a nazirite from birth and that he would "deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines." (Judges 13:5)
So, she tells her husband what she had heard. Her husband wasn't quite as accepting as Joseph when he received a rather similar message, so Manoah prayed God to send "the man of God...to us again." Presumably he wanted to hear for himself. We infer that Manoah is thinking, "You can’t trust a woman." The text says that
Judges 13:9 God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
That's pretty funny. Regardless of what Manoah wanted, God was interested in talking with the woman. Perhaps the text won't bother to name his wife, but God certainly disrespects Manoah. So, the woman runs to tell her husband and he comes and tries to interrogate the "man" asking, what are we supposed to do?
Judges 13:13 The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Let the woman give heed to all that I said to her.
In other words, "Who are you, bozo? I'm talking with this woman!"
So, Manoah asks for the angel's name, but the angel refuses to answer, and suggests that they make a burnt offering instead. That is a sign that this is no ordinary man they are talking with.
Judges 13:20 When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on;
This scared the heck out of Manoah, who says, "we're going to die."
Judges 13:23 But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these."
That is a good line of reasoning. The wife teaches the husband the things of the Spirit. I think that St. Paul could learn a lesson or two about God's attitude toward women from this episode and whether it is acceptable for women to teach men, or not.
The protagonist is Samson's mother. We never hear her name, typical of the sexism of many Scripture texts, but she rules!
Judges 13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren, having borne no children. 3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her....
.... good news, "you shall conceive and bear a son." (Judges 13:3) and he instructed her that her son was to be a nazirite from birth and that he would "deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines." (Judges 13:5)
So, she tells her husband what she had heard. Her husband wasn't quite as accepting as Joseph when he received a rather similar message, so Manoah prayed God to send "the man of God...to us again." Presumably he wanted to hear for himself. We infer that Manoah is thinking, "You can’t trust a woman." The text says that
Judges 13:9 God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
That's pretty funny. Regardless of what Manoah wanted, God was interested in talking with the woman. Perhaps the text won't bother to name his wife, but God certainly disrespects Manoah. So, the woman runs to tell her husband and he comes and tries to interrogate the "man" asking, what are we supposed to do?
Judges 13:13 The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Let the woman give heed to all that I said to her.
In other words, "Who are you, bozo? I'm talking with this woman!"
So, Manoah asks for the angel's name, but the angel refuses to answer, and suggests that they make a burnt offering instead. That is a sign that this is no ordinary man they are talking with.
Judges 13:20 When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on;
This scared the heck out of Manoah, who says, "we're going to die."
Judges 13:23 But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these."
That is a good line of reasoning. The wife teaches the husband the things of the Spirit. I think that St. Paul could learn a lesson or two about God's attitude toward women from this episode and whether it is acceptable for women to teach men, or not.
