And the woman ran in haste and told her husband is literally “And the woman hurried and she ran and she told her husband and she said to him.” And renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, but many versions omit it here (New International Version, NET Bible). Good News Translation translates it “so,” or we could also say “Then.” The woman is Manoah’s wife. Revised Standard Version combines the verbs “hurried” and “ran,” saying ran in haste. Her sense of urgency may also be expressed by saying “ran quickly” (New Revised Standard Version) or “hurried as fast as she could.” Revised Standard Version also reduces the repetitive clauses “she told her husband” and “she said to him” by keeping only the first one, which may be done in other languages. However, the narrator has purposely drawn out this sequence of events with the woman still in focus.

Behold, which renders the Hebrew word hinneh, introduces a surprising statement once again, with a meaning something like “This is wonderful!” or “What a surprise!” Translators might also use an ideophone showing surprise or excitement here.

The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me: The order of this sentence is reversed in Hebrew, which is literally “he has appeared to me, the man who came to me on the day.” Either order is certainly acceptable. The man is the woman’s way of referring to the man of God (see verse 13.6). This abbreviated form reflects her excitement, but also shows that she is still not sure whether this person is a prophet or an angel. The Hebrew expression rendered the other day (literally “on the day”) normally means “today,” but here it refers to the day when the LORD’s angel first appeared to the woman, so Revised Standard Version‘s rendering is correct. The Septuagint says “that day,” which refers back to the original appearance. Translators should use a natural expression here. For appeared see verse 13.3.

Translation models for this verse are:

• So the woman ran as fast as she could to her husband and said, “My husband! He has appeared again, the man who came to me the other day!”

• The woman ran quickly to where her husband was and said, “You won’t believe it. The man who came the other day appeared to me again!”

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .