The Sacrifice of Manoah (Das Opfer des Manoah)
Artist: Abraham van Dijck (Dutch, 1635/36-1672)
Collection: State Arts Collections Dresden, Dresden, Germany
Old Manoah and his wife are kneeling before a fire, immersed in their prayer of thanksgiving. The childless couple have just sacrificed a burnt offering to God because the angel of God, seen rising up into Heaven from the fire on the left, has just prophesied that they will have a son, Samson.
Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.
(Judges 13-1921)