“We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.”
- KJV And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
- NKJV And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
- NASB So Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God.”
- NLT and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Manoah fears they will die because they have seen God. He shares the ancient dread of beholding the Lord.
Overview
Manoah's fear reflects the biblical understanding that no sinner can see God and live (Exodus 33:20). His reaction shows he now fully recognizes the divine nature of their visitor. The tension between God's holiness and human sinfulness here anticipates the gospel, where Christ makes it possible to come safely into God's presence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 32:30So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
- Deut 5:26For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?
- John 1:18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- Exod 33:20But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”
- John 5:37And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form,
- Isa 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
- Deut 4:38to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day.
- Judg 6:22When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 13:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.