# Judges 13 is angel of the Lord a theophany?



## 3John2 (Sep 22, 2006)

Is he?


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## jaybird0827 (Sep 23, 2006)

Observation:



> 13:15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. 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. 13:17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? 13:18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? 13:19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 13:20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. 13:21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 13:22 And Manoah said unto his wife, *We shall surely die, because we have seen God*. 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.



Emphasis mine. I looked in both Matthew Henry's and Matthew Poole's commentary. Matthew Henry does not mention anything that suggests theophany tom me; Matthew Poole seems to stop short of going there although I can see the possibility of inferring it from what he says.

Further comments?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Sep 23, 2006)

This may be helpful:

Matthew Poole:



> Judg 13:18. Or, hidden from mortal men; or, wonderful, such as thou canst not comprehend; my nature or essence (which is oft signified by name in Scripture) is incomprehensible. This shows that this was the Angel of the covenant, the Son of God.



Matthew Henry on Judges 13:1-7:



> II. The glad tidings brought to his mother, that she should have a son. The messenger was an angel of the Lord (Judg 13:3), yet appearing as a man, with the aspect and garb of a prophet, or man of God. And this angel (as the learned bishop Patrick supposes, on Judg 13:18) was the Lord himself, that is, the Word of the Lord, who was to be the Messiah, for his name is called Wonderful, Judg 13:18, and Jehovah, Judg 13:19.



Fisher's Catechism:



> Q. 2.20. How was the will of God made known to the church, before it was committed to writing?
> 
> A. By immediate revelations, Gen 2:16-17, and Gen 3:15; *by frequent appearances of the Son of God, delighting, beforehand, to try on the human likeness, Gen 18:2, compared with Gen 5:3; Judg 13:11, compared with Judg 13:18-19*; by the ministry of the holy angels, Gen 19:1,15; Heb 2:2, and of the patriarchs, Jude 14-15; Heb 11:7.


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## Ivan (Sep 23, 2006)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> 
> Matthew Henry on Judges 13:1-7:
> 
> ...



In this quote, is Matthew Henry refering to Saint Patrick?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Sep 23, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Ivan_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> ...



I believe that Matthew Henry is referring to Bishop Simon Patrick.


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