1. Judges 13:8 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why is Manoah’s prayer so problematic?

Judges 13:8 (ESV)

8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.”

Manoah wants the man of God to come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born. But the angel had been very clear on what to do with the child. And Manoah’s wife had passed that on to him. Furthermore, Manoah should have known from the law what to do.1 What more was needed? But Manoah seems doubtful, slow-witted, and ignorant of the law of the Nazirite. And so by wanting the man of God to come directly to him, Manoah is getting in the way. If knowledge is power, Manoah wants to reclaim the power in his house.2 His wife, by contrast, did not need a return visit, because she believed the messenger the first time.