Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God whom you did send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
All Commentaries on Judges 13:8 Go To Judges 13
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
When he learned them [the promises spoken by the angel], he devoutly begged God in prayer that he might also be granted the favor of a vision, saying, “O Lord, let your angel come to me.”
I do not think, as a certain author has supposed, that he did this out of jealousy for his wife, who was remarkable for her beauty, but rather because he was moved by a desire for a favor from heaven and wished to share the benefit of the heavenly vision. One depraved by vices of the soul would not have found such favor with the Lord that an angel would return to his house, give the admonition which the fulfilling of the prophecy entailed, be suddenly raised in the form of a glowing flame, and depart. This vision, which so frightened the husband, the wife interpreted more auspiciously, turning it to joy and removing his anxiety. She said that to see God was a proof of favor, not of ill will.
