And he said to his wife: We shall certainly die, because we have seen God.
וַיֹּ֧אמֶר מָנ֛וֹחַ אֶל־אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ מ֣וֹת נָמ֑וּת כִּ֥י אֱלֹהִ֖ים רָאִֽינוּ׃
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Are you not amazed by Manoah, the judge? He is overwhelmed at the thought of encountering God, declaring, "We are doomed, my wife, for we have seen God." For the very presence of God, beyond even the created world, is beyond human understanding.
It is indeed the case that during the era of the old covenant, the manifestations of angels were not uncommon; however, those who were devout regarded such occurrences as extraordinary and often foreboding of death. The righteous who had ascended to God's presence caused those living on earth to believe in a connection to the heavenly realm; after all, why else would they frequently refer to God in their supplications as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Yet, during that time, this connection was not as firm or prominent, as the righteous were still awaiting the fulfillment of their union with God through Christ.
When the Christian Church came to understand, through both teaching and experience, this unseen yet authentic bond—though largely hidden—with the heavenly Church, the angelic hosts, and the souls of the perfected saints, it became characteristic of its wisdom to select and consistently employ appropriate means to safeguard and nurture this union and its blessings. To this end, the remembrance of the saints is incorporated into the Divine Service, organized by the calendar year and also by the weekly cycle. The Church celebrates their actions and virtues to inspire our love for them, which naturally leads to our imitation; she directs our prayers towards them to elicit their affection on our behalf. The essence of a pure spiritual union is founded on pure love.
If the genesis of the Church’s commemoration of the heavenly saints can only be understood through the living awareness of that union from the early Church, then the ongoing and expanding remembrance of these saints is likewise accounted for by the continuous, demonstrated goodness of this connection. The Church is filled with the saints' glory, for it is enriched by the grace of God through their intercessions.
Additionally, when she and her spouse made an offering to the Lord, and the angel's presence was not visible to them, Manoah experienced fear, believing that if God had manifested to them, it would surely lead to their death. In noting that Manoah's wife exhibited greater wisdom than her husband, our intention is not to ridicule or demean Manoah; as depicted in the account from the book of Judges, he was indeed a righteous man.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS