Question: Recently we read the haftara of Parashat Naso. I am puzzled by the fact that the wife of Mano’ach was given to see things her husband did not see, yet only his name is mentioned. What was the name of Mano’ach’s wife?
Yossy Guttman
Via email
Synopsis: Last week we summarized the haftara of Parashat Naso, which describes the apparition of the angel of G-d to the wife of Mano’ach, a man of the tribe of Dan. The angel told the woman, whose name, Tzlilponet, is referred to only in the Talmud (Bava Batra 91a), that she would no longer be barren but give birth to a son who would deliver the Israelites from the harsh subjugation the Philistines exerted over them. Both she and her husband, to whom the angel also appeared subsequently, were told that the child would be a Nazirite unto G-d from the womb and his hair would never be cut. When the child was born, his mother gave him the name Shimshon. This raises the question: Since it is the woman who clearly has the main role in this event, why is her name not mentioned in Scripture?
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Answer: In Tractate Berachot (16b), we find a baraita (also extant in the minor tractate Semachot 1:14) stating that it is a rule that the term “patriarch” is applied only to three men – only Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov are called Avot (Patriarchs) – and the term “matriarch” refers only to four women – only Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah are called Imahot (Matriarchs). The Gemara notes that we can understand that distinction for the Patriarchs, since they (as opposed to any individual tribe) are our common ancestors. But that does not apply to the Matriarchs, for we do not know whether we are descended from Rachel or from Leah. The Gemara then states that the reason for the restriction of these terms is that our ancestors up to that point were particularly esteemed, while that is not the case afterwards.
The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 39:11) sees the source of “three Patriarchs” and “four Matriarchs” in the wording of the opening verses of Parashat Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:2-3), “V’e’es’cha l’goy gadol va’avarechecha va’agadlah shemecha v’heyeh beracha; va’avarchah mevarcheicha…v’nivrechu vecha kol mishpechot ha’adama” – I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you…and through you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Greatness is mentioned three times (gadol, va’agadlah, and v’e’es’cha, which has the connotation of making someone great) and “blessing” four times (va’avarechecha, beracha, va’avarcha, v’nivrechu). The commentary Etz Yosef ad loc. explains that greatness is associated with men and blessings with women. The Midrash thus assigns the trait of greatness to the Patriarchs, while the Matriarchs’ greatness is subsumed in the greatness of their husbands.
The Matriarchs were of great enough importance to be mentioned by name, whereas later on many women who performed great deeds are not singled out. Tzlilponet had to be endowed with a special quality of greatness since she saw an angel of G-d even before he revealed himself to her husband. And she is the one who understood that no danger to life and limb could ensue from an encounter that occurred in order to deliver an important message (the birth of a child and the resulting deliverance of Israel from the Philistines).
The Gemara (Berachot 61a) even referred to Mano’ach in a derogatory manner as an ignoramus, and R. Nachman b. Yitzhak came to his defense, explaining that he followed his wife’s counsel. While that indicates wisdom on Mano’ach’s part, the one whose counsel he followed must undoubtedly have been wiser than he himself, the man from the tribe of Dan.
It is Mano’ach’s connection to the tribe of Dan that also provides a partial answer to our question. The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 10:13) notes that while Mano’ach was from the tribe of Dan, his wife was from the tribe of Yehuda. When our Patriarch Jacob blessed his sons before his death, it was through the blessing bestowed upon Dan that he foretold the deliverance of the Children of Israel from their servitude under the Philistines. It was therefore important for the prophet (Samuel, who wrote the Book of Judges) to underscore the patriarchal lineage of Mano’ach and thus mention him by name, without distracting our attention by mentioning his wife.
The blessing Yaakov gave to Dan opens with the verse (Genesis 49:16), “Dan yadin amo ke’achad shivtei Yisrael” – Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.” This is understood as an allusion to the fact that Yehuda will be the ruling tribe, but that there will also be a judge from the tribe of Dan who will be a national redeemer. Indeed, this is the message the angel of G-d gave the woman in our haftara.
