Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
- BSB “We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for 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 32:30Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
- Deut 5:26For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived?
- John 1:18No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
- Exod 33:20He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”
- John 5:37The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.
- Isa 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
- Deut 4:38to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.
- Judg 6:22Gideon saw that he was Yahweh’s angel; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! Because I have seen Yahweh’s angel face to face!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.