| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav-consecutive wayyomer {וַיֹּאמֶר֩ | wayyômer} ‘and he said’, introducing direct speech by the subject malakh Yahweh {מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה | malʾâkh Yəhōwâ} ‘angel of the LORD’. The indirect object is marked by the prepositional phrase ʾel-Manoah {אֶל־מָנ֗וֹחַ | ʾel mānōaḥ} ‘to Manoah’. A protasis of condition is formed with ʾim-taʿaṣrēnî {אִם־תַּעְצְרֵנִי֙ | ʾim taʿăṣrēnî} ‘if you detain me’, with the imperfect indicating a future contingent action, followed by the apodosis lō-ʾōḵal {לֹא־אֹכַל | lō ʾōḵal} ‘I will not eat’. The object of eating is the construct phrase bəlaḥmēkā {בְּלַחְמֶ֔ךָ | bəlaḥmēkā} ‘your bread’. A contrasting condition wəʾim-taʿăśeh {וְאִם־תַּעֲשֶׂה | wəʾim taʿăśeh} ‘and if you make’ leads to the noun ʾôlāh {עֹלָה | ʾôlāh} ‘burnt offering’ and the Hif‘il imperfect taʿălennâh {תַּעֲלֶנָּה | taʿălennâh} ‘you shall offer it up’, with the prepositional lə-Yahweh {לַיהוָה | layhôwâ} marking the recipient. The clause kî-lō-yāḏaʿ mānōaḥ {כִּי־לֹא־יָדַע מָנ֔וֹחַ | kî lō-yāḏaʿ mānōaḥ} ‘for Manoah did not know’ uses the perfect to denote past ignorance, culminating in kî-malʾâkh Yahweh hûʾ {כִּי־מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה הוּא׃ | kî-malʾâkh Yəhōwâ hûʾ} ‘that he was the angel of the LORD’. The Hebrew conditional sequence and the delayed identification of the divine messenger heighten the dramatic tension between human hospitality and divine revelation. |