Manoah's wife

[zeborah]

(Thanks to Irina for unwittingly reminding me to post this.)

Some random guy has a wife (Judges 13:2-24) who's allegedly sterile. I say allegedly, because what follows is a little story about how an angel of the Lord comes to her and tells her she's going to have a son. When I see stories like this, I start thinking that maybe it's the husband who's sterile and the angel of the Lord is a more mortal messenger.

Anyway, the angel tells her not to drink wine or eat anything unclean while she's pregnant, which makes good sense. He also says that that the boy's hair can't be cut; this is because, poor woman, her son's going to be Samson.

The woman goes back to her husband and tells him everything, saying, "He looked like an angel of God, very awesome." Her husband clearly doesn't pay much attention to this because when the angel next appears to the woman and she calls her husband over, he just treats him like any man, asking him to have something to eat (angels don't eat) and asking for his name. It's only when her husband offers a sacrifice and the angel ascends in its flames that he gets a clue. He also gets a fright: he's convinced that they've seen God and that they therefore must be doomed to die.

His wife is rather more sensible. She points out that if God had meant to kill them, he wouldn't have accepted the sacrifice and wouldn't have told them that she's going to have a boy. Then she gets on with her life, gives birth, and presumably makes a good attempt at raising her son. Unfortunately the dimwit takes after his father.

Comments

[poppa-bear.livejournal.com]

But who is his father?

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. My knowledge of the Old Testament is somewhat sketchy, especially as this is the sort of story that tended to get glossed over in church, so I love this occasional series that you're doing.

[zeborah]

Every week in church I say to myself "Oh, I must post another in my series." And every week by the time I get home I've forgotten.

You have just inspired me with the bright idea of setting myself a reminder in Calendar. Look forward to a new Woman-in-the-Bible every Sunday from this weekend on. (I've got so many backed up I can easily post them for a couple of months before I even have to write any again; but if I go on a splurge of writing I might post them more often.)

[sciamanna.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted when I see a devout Christian take this attitude to Biblical stories. Reminds me that there aren't just krazee fundies out there. (Love the occasional religious discussion on #rasfc, too.)

...of course, I was introduced to Biblical exegesis by a Gesuite (teaching a course in my first University, which was Catholic), so it's not like I don't know... :-)

ETA: I was forgetting. I've read somewhere, some time (useful, eh?) that the story of Samson's hair had to do with some ascetic sect (Nazirenes?). It would also make sense with the specific injunction against unclean food. I've no idea how plausible this is otherwise.