(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 13:15–25, “And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.”
Manoah wanted to have some control in this situation and he asked the angel to stay for a while so that he could be hospitable and prepare a meal. The angel told Manoah that he would stay for a while but he wouldn’t eat anything. Manoah still thought that the angel was just another man from another place. He tried to find out more about the man/angel and asked him for his name. It was thought to be good to another person’s name in those days, or the name of their god so that you could have power over the other person. (compare 1 Kings 20:23, “And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” In this case they thought that they knew enough about the Lord God to defeat him but they were wrong.) The angel had come from the Lord so it wasn’t appropriate for Manoah to know his name because Manoah would never be superior to that angel.) Manoah offered the goat as an offering to the Lord and the angel went up into the air with the flame. At that stage Manoah understood that the angel had come from the Lord and was afraid. However, Manoah’s wife became pregnant and they had a son called Samson, who was dedicated to the Lord as a Nazarite. Samson grew up and the Lord was with him in a special way.
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