Judges 13:6

“Then the woman came and told her husband, etc.] To whom it would be joyful news, as it was to her: saying, a man of God came unto me; he appeared in an human form, and therefore she calls him a man; and by his mien and deportment, and the message he brought, she concluded he was a man of God, that is, a prophet; by which name such persons went in those days; and so the Targum calls him a prophet of the Lord: but it is a mere conceit of Ben Gersom that it was Phinehas, who in all probability was not living; besides what is after related shows that this was a divine Person, and no other than the Son of God: and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible; for…”

“then Manoah entreated the Lord--On being informed by his wife of the welcome intimation, the husband made it the subject of earnest prayer to God. This is a remarkable instance, indicative of the connection which God has established between prayer and the fulfilment of His promises.”

“A man of God - The designation of a prophet, of frequent use in the books of Samuel and Kings 1Sa 2:27; 1 Samuel 9:6-8, 1 Samuel 9:10; 1Ki 12:22; 1 Kings 13:1, 1 Kings 13:5-6, 1 Kings 13:11, and applied to Timothy by Paul in the New Testament 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 3:17. His countenance - Rather, “his appearance,” as the word is rendered in Daniel 10:18. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Man of God - A prophet, or sacred person, sent with a message from God. Terrible - Or, venerable, awful, full of Majesty. Judges 13:12”

“A man: Deu 33:1; Jos 14:6; Sa1 2:27, Sa1 9:6; Kg1 17:18, Kg1 17:24; Kg2 4:9, Kg2 4:16; Ti1 6:11 countenance was: Mat 28:3; Luk 9:29; Act 6:15 terrible: Jdg 13:22; Gen 28:16, Gen 28:17; Exo 3:2, Exo 3:6; Dan 8:17, Dan 10:5, Dan 10:11; Mat 28:4; Rev 1:17 but I asked: etc. The Vulgate renders this cause very differently, the negative Not being omitted: Quem cum interrogassim quis esset, et unde venisset, et quo nomine vocaretur, noluit mihi dicere; sed hoc respondit, etc; "Whom when I asked who he was, and whence he came, and by what name he was called, would not tell me, but this he said," etc. The negative is also wanting in the Septuagint, as it is in the Complutensian Polyglott; Και ηρωτον…”

“The woman told her husband of this appearance: "A man of God," she said (lit., the man of God, viz., the one just referred to), "came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name," etc. "Man of God" was the expression used to denote a prophet, or a man who stood in immediate intercourse with God, such as Moses and others (see at Deu 33:1). "Angel of God" is equivalent to "angel of the Lord" ( Jdg 2:1; Jdg 6:11), the angel in whom the invisible God reveals himself to men. The woman therefore imagined the person who appeared to her to have been a prophet, whose majestic appearance, however,…”