Why do you ask my name?

(17) So Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name? We should like to honor you when your words come true.” (18) The angel said to him, “You must not ask for my name; it is unknowable!”

(1) למה זה תשאל לשמי?, “why do you have to know my name?” The angel implies that knowing his “name” will be of no use to Yaakov at all. The reason is that he does not possess any powers of his own, he is only a tool in the hands of G’d, so much so that if Yaakov were ever to call upon him he would not even respond. What he was able to do however, was to give Yaakov a blessing. The reason he could do so was because G’d had commanded him to do so. The Torah did not spell out the text of the blessing. Our sages add that Yaakov thanked the angel for his blessing.

2) Another meaning of these words: “why do you ask for a name seeing that we are not in the habit of revealing our names?” The reason an angel does not like to reveal his name is so as not to appear to crown himself with the success of any mission he has been sent on. He does not want a human being to go around saying: “this and this angel has performed such and such a miracle.” He is a servant, a mere extension of his Master in Heaven and he is careful not to to do something which would create the wrong impression. This was the reason that the angel who had announced to Manoach and his wife that they would have a son resented being asked for his name (Judges 13,18) saying that his name was פלאי, “something concealed. This is the meaning of Isaiah 43,7: כל הנקרא בשמי-לכבודי בראתיו, “everything which bears My name,- I have created it for the sake of My honour.” This is also the thrust of David saying in Psalms 29,1: “ascribe to the Lord, O divine beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.”

(3) There are some commentators who have explained the words “why do you ask for my name” as “seeing that I have been defeated, what is the pointed in your knowing my name? Usually the victor wants his own name to become known. The loser does not want his name known so as to suffer the minimum of embarrassment.