Was Manoah an Ignoramus for Following After His Wife

Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 68:8

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And Manoah went after his wife" (Judges 13:11). Rav Nachman said: Manoah was an ignoramus, as it is said, "And Manoah went after his wife." The Gemara objects: If so, then "And Elkanah went up after" his household (cf. 1 Samuel) would also imply this, and behold it is written, "And there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim" (1 Samuel 1:1) understood as "one man who came from the two hundred seers who prophesied to Israel." Rather, the meaning is that Manoah went after her words and after her counsel; here too it means after her words and after her counsel. But according to what Rav Nachman said, that Manoah was an ignoramus, he had not even read the verses children learn in the schoolhouse, for it is written, "And Rebecca arose, and her maidens, and they rode upon the camels and followed the man" (Genesis 24:61), and not before the man.

Themes

HumorWomenMarriage

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