What Does Judges 13:8 Mean in the King James?

Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

Judges 13:8 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Manoah asks to be taught before the child arrives because care for a new life begins with receiving direction, not pretending to already know the way.

THE MEANING

When something new is coming into your care, you can ask for direction before you know what it needs. Manoah’s prayer holds uncertainty without pretending expertise: the next action can be taught.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

You have to know how to care for what is coming before it arrives.

THE ROOT

וְיוֹרֵנוּ

veyorenu

GROWS FROM

ירה

To point or direct; also to throw or cast.

“teach” in this verse is veyorenu. The verb carries the sense of pointing someone toward a way, so teaching here is direction for action. ⁨תּוֹרָה⁩ (torah), meaning instruction, shares this root: Manoah asks for guidance toward what to do for the child.

ALSO GROWS

torah: Instruction that shows a way.

תּוֹרָה

It shares the root of “teach,” revealing instruction as direction for living and acting.

moreh: One who teaches or directs.

מוֹרֶה

This branch makes the teacher’s role vivid: to point the learner toward a way forward.

THE PATTERN

When the next step is unclear, direction is received before action is taken.

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

Psalm 25:4 · KJVThe speaker asks to be shown a path before walking it.

Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Exodus 4:12 · KJVDirection meets a specific need: what to say in the moment ahead.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 14:26 · KJVThe Set-Apart Breath teaches and brings what is needed back into remembrance.

THE THREAD

Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Exodus 4:12 · KJV

The same Hebrew root, ⁨יָרָה⁩ (yarah), meaning to point or direct, appears in “teach thee.” Manoah asks what to do for the child; here, the promise is instruction for what to say, bringing the root down to the next concrete act.

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