Hakim-hakim 7:4

7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. ¹  Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. ²  When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; ³  when I say, ⁴  ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” ⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 13:16

13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, ⁶  I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) ⁷ 

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “too many people.”

[7:4]  ² tn Heb “test them for you there.”

[7:4]  ³ tn Heb “he should go with you.”

[7:4]  ⁴ tn Heb also has “to you.”

[7:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “he should not go.”

[13:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “If you detain me.”

[13:16]  ⁷ tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the Lord’s messenger, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yÿhvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s messenger” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ’adonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).