By his words the angel puts Manoah in his place. His reply in Judges 13:13–14 would have hit a nerve, because he provides little new information to Manoah; rather, other than the new information about the prohibiting of eating any grape products (and not just wine), he repeats what he had previously said to Manoah’s wife. His answer amounts to saying, “Manoah, you should have listened to your wife. All that I said to her, she has to do: drink no wine or strong drink, and eat no unclean food. You, Manoah, do not have to do anything.” Notably, all the verbs in the angel’s speech to Manoah are feminine, which draws even attention to the fact that the report from Manoah’s wife should have sufficed for him.
13 L'ange de l'Eternel répondit à Manoach: La femme s'abstiendra de tout ce que je lui ai dit.