Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 13:23
But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these [things], nor would as at this time have told us [such things] as these.
23. at this time ] lit. at ( about) the time, an unusual expression, rendered now in Jdg 21:22, Num 23:23; cf. at ( about) the day = now 1Sa 9:27, 1Ki 22:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 23. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, c.] This is excellent reasoning, and may be of great use to every truly religious mind, in cloudy and dark dispensations of Divine Providence. It is not likely that God, who has preserved thee so long, borne with thee so long, and fed and supported thee all thy life long, girding thee when thou knewest him not, is less willing to save and provide for thee and thine now than he was when, probably, thou trustedst less in him. He who freely gave his Son to redeem thee, can never be indifferent to thy welfare and if he give thee power to pray to and trust in him, is it at all likely that he is now seeking an occasion against thee, in order to destroy thee? Add to this the very light that shows thee thy wretchedness, ingratitude, and disobedience, is in itself a proof that he is waiting to be gracious to thee; and the penitential pangs thou feelest, and thy bitter regret for thy unfaithfulness, argue that the light and fire are of God’s own kindling, and are sent to direct and refine, not to drive thee out of the way and destroy thee. Nor would he have told thee such things of his love, mercy, and kindness, and unwillingness to destroy sinners, as he has told thee in his sacred word, if he had been determined not to extend his mercy to thee.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Or,
at this time; the particle as noting here, not likeness, but the truth and reality of the thing, as it doth Num 11:1; Deu 9:10, and elsewhere. This expression seems to have some emphasis in it, to enhance Gods mercy to them, as being afforded them in a time of such public and grievous calamity; and in a time when the word of the Lord was precious, and there was no open vision, as it was afterwards, 1Sa 3:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But his wife said unto him,…. Who was less fearful, and the strongest believer of the two, seeing her husband so very much intimidated, endeavoured to comfort and strengthen him by the three following arguments:
if the Lord was pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands; for it was at the direction of this illustrious Person that they offered these offerings, and who testified the divine acceptance of them, by causing fire in an extraordinary manner to consume them, which was always reckoned a token of God’s acceptance of them; and besides, the angel went up in the flame, as being well pleased with them, and, as it were, carrying up the sacrifice to heaven with him, as a sweetsmelling savour to God. Here the angel is called Jehovah by the woman, and shows this was the uncreated angel:
neither would he have showed us all these things; which they saw as the appearance of a divine Person to them in an human form, the consuming of the sacrifice by fire in so strange a manner, and the ascent of the angel heavenwards in the flame of it:
nor would, as at this time, have told us [such things] as these; as that they should have a son; how the woman was to manage herself, while with child of him; and how when born he was to be brought up, and what things God would do by him, and begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Now all this would not have been told at such a time of distress, as the nation was now in, but to comfort them, or he would never have told them of a son to be born of them, if they were to be destroyed immediately. So an enlightened soul may reason from the sight and sense he has had of his sinful, lost, and undone state by nature; from the revelation of Christ to him as the only way of salvation; from the views he has had of the glories of his person, and the riches of his grace; and from that communion with God he has sometimes enjoyed; from all this he may reason, that if God had a design to damn him for his sins, he would never have made such discoveries of love, grace, and mercy to him; as well as from the sacrifice of Christ, God has provided and accepted of, on the foot of which justice is engaged to save; and besides, grace and glory are inseparable.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23. If the Lord were pleased to kill us Reason and faith united, in the heart of the wife develop into a noble and devout trust, and triumph over the fears and trembling of the husband. The essential element of her faith and reason was identical with that which led the apostle to write: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom 8:32.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh was pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, nor would he have shown us all these things, nor would he, at this time, have told us such things as these.” ’
His wife, happy in the knowledge that she was to bear a son, was wiser. She pointed out that if Yahweh had intended to kill them He would not have sought or accepted their burnt offering, nor would He have revealed such wonderful things to them, nor would He have promised them a son. All this only served to demonstrate that He intended good towards them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 13:23. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands, &c. Such was the argumentation of Manoah’s wife against the fear and diffidence of her husband; and it might very well have become the most masculine understanding. God Almighty will be very well pleased, if we have so much confidence and faith in him, as in all our perplexities when our understandings are puzzled, and in all our distresses when our spirits are fainting, to use that kind of logick to support us. If he has at any time redeemed us from pressing or languishing wants and necessities, and supplied us beyond our hope, or at least beyond our expectation, by the charity of friends, compassion of strangers, or some such other seeming casualties as he usually transmits his favors by, in such a manner, as that we have found ourselves for a time at ease, and in a degree of plenty (and perhaps there are few men so miserable as not to have enjoyed such intervals); if he has at any time rescued us from a devouring danger, when our enemies were so near taking our lives from us, that we had death in our prospect, and by our sensible fear had even undergone some impressions of it (and God knows how many there are who have been instances of those articulate deliverances);we may very well argue, that if he were resolved to destroy us, he could not have conferred those graces, and favours, and deliverances upon us. Nay, if he has given us grace to rely upon and put our trust in him, to pray heartily to him, and to preserve ourselves from the infection and contagion of prevailing and prosperous wickedness; if, in a time of powerful rebellion, we have, from a due sense of our duty to him, kept our allegiance to our king; if, when the sacrilegious and prophane have broken in upon the religion and worship of the most High, we have, for piety’s sake, to our utmost power, and with our utmost hazards, opposed their desperate fury, and never consented to their wickedness, when we were no longer able to stop the progress of it; if, in a time of persecution, when men’s lives and fortunes were with all imaginable rigour and severity taken from them, for not consenting to perjury and other violations of their consciences, and both lives and fortunes might be preserved by submitting to those impositions, we have passed through the fire of that persecution, and chosen imprisonment or banishment, or death, rather than comply with that power to the breach of our duty; we may very well expect some signal deliverance, upon this conclusion, that if God had meant we should be destroyed, he would not have received those burnt-offerings nor those meat-offerings at our hands; he would not have given us the grace and courage to have sacrificed our conveniencies, and property, and lives to his service.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jdg 13:23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these [things], nor would as at this time have told us [such things] as these.
Ver. 23. But his wife said unto him. ] She, it seemeth, had the stronger faith; and her arguments were in readiness to cheer up her fainting husband. The like, in likelihood, did Priscilla for her Aquila, when for St Paul’s life they laid down their own necks: wherefore also she hath the first salutation. Rom 16:3-4 Sure it is that Helen Stirk, a Scotch martyr, suffering together with her husband for the cause of Christ, thus bespake him at the place of execution: Husband, rejoice; for we have lived together many joyful days; but this day, wherein we must die together, ought to be most joyful to us both, because we must have joy for ever: therefore I will not bid you good night, for we shall suddenly meet within the kingdom of heaven. a
a Act. and Mon., 1154.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
received. It is the acceptance of our Substitute by God which saves, not our acceptance of Him. This was sound reasoning.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
his wife: Ecc 4:9, Ecc 4:10, 1Co 12:21
he would not: Gen 4:4, Gen 4:5, Psa 86:17
he have showed: Psa 25:14, Psa 27:13, Pro 3:32, Joh 14:20, Joh 14:23, Joh 15:15
Reciprocal: Lev 9:24 – there came a fire Jdg 6:22 – because Jdg 13:16 – and if Pro 31:26 – openeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 13:23. If the Lord were pleased to kill us The reasoning of Manoahs wife here is very just, and shows her to have been a woman of good understanding. Indeed, both of them seem to have been persons of eminent piety, who, amidst the prevailing corruption and idolatry of their people, retained their integrity, and adhered to the worship and service of the true God. And of such God is always mindful, both bestowing peculiar favours upon them, and communicating blessings to his church, and to the world, through their means. Nor would, as at this time, have told us such things This expression seems to have some emphasis in it, to enhance Gods mercy to them, as being afforded them in a time of such grievous calamity; and in a time when the word of the Lord was precious, and there was no open vision.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13:23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a {k} burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these [things], nor would as at this time have told us [such things] as these.
(k) These graces that we have received from God, and his accepting of our obedience, are sure tokens of his love for us, so that nothing can hurt us.