사사기 13:9 해설: Tze'enah Ure'enah

“God heard Manoah’s plea” [13:9]. The Holy One heard the voice of Manoah and the Holy One sent the angel to the woman. The woman was sitting in the field and her husband was not there. Here one asks a question. Why did the angel appear in the field? Or, why does the verse need to say, there in the field? The explanation is that one should not suspect that the angel is an evil person and how relevant is it that a man should come alone and appear to a woman for sexual purposes? That is why the angel appeared in the field, where there is no forest, in the expectation that she should not be suspected [of misbehavior] with the angel. That is why the verse says, “she was sitting in the field and Manoah her husband was not with her” [13:9]. That is why he appeared in the field because her husband was not with her and she had no guardian with her. That is why the angel appeared in the field. One must give a similar explanation concerning Deborah. She was sitting under a tree and was judging Israel and not in a house,⁴Judges, 4:5. in the expectation that a strange man should not come alone to her without a guardian. However, she can sit under a tree in the field where all the people go without problem. From here we learn that every woman should be warned that she should not be without a guardian, not to be suspected. People should not say that she was alone with a man, even though she was a completely righteous woman.