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Judges 13

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Israel Oppressed by the Philistines 1–2

1
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. ​
2
And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. ​

The Angel Announces Samson's Birth 3–7

3
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4
Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: ​
5
For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. ​
6
Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: ​
7
But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

Manoah Requests Further Instruction 8–14

8
Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. ​
9
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10
And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11
And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
12
And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. ​
14
She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

Manoah Offers a Sacrifice 15–23

15
And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
16
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD. ​
17
And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18
And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? ​
19
So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
20
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. ​
21
But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.
22
And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. ​
23
But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. ​

The Birth of Samson 24–25

24
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25
And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Judges 13

Verse 1

forty years — This is the longest oppression Judges records; the earlier ones lasted eight, eighteen, twenty, seven and eighteen years (3:8, 14; 4:3; 6:1; 10:8). ‘Did evil again’ is the book’s formula (3:12; 4:1; 10:6). Here no cry to the LORD is recorded, as there is in 3:9, 6:6 and 10:10, and the deliverer is announced first (v.5).

Verse 2

his wife was barren — Scripture’s barren wives who bear promised sons are Sarai (Gen 11:30), Rebekah (Gen 25:21), Hannah (1 Sam 1:5) and Elisabeth (Luke 1:7). Zorah and Eshtaol belonged to Dan’s inheritance (Josh 19:41), and the Spirit later moves Samson between them (v.25). Manoah’s wife is not named.

Verse 4

drink not wine nor strong drink — The mother keeps for the unborn child what Num 6:3 requires of a Nazarite, ‘He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink’. ‘Beware’ is shamar, to keep or guard. Of John the Baptist it is likewise said, ‘shall drink neither wine nor strong drink’ (Luke 1:15). Verse 14 lists the restrictions again.

Verse 5

a Nazarite unto God from the womb — The Nazarite vow of Num 6:5 (‘there shall no razor come upon his head’) was for a period; Samson’s is from birth, as Hannah vowed for Samuel (1 Sam 1:11). His wife adds ‘to the day of his death’ (v.7). He is only to ‘begin’ to deliver: he judges twenty years (15:20; 16:31), and the Philistines are subdued in Samuel’s day (1 Sam 7:13).

Verse 6

a man of God — She calls him ‘a man of God’, the title given to Samuel (1 Sam 9:6), and says his countenance was like that of ‘an angel of God’, ‘very terrible’ (yare, to be feared). She did not ask whence he was, and he gave no name. Manoah asks for one in v.17, and v.18 answers that it is ‘secret’.

Verse 8

teach us what we shall do — Manoah asks for instruction before the birth. ‘Intreated’ is athar, the verb of Isaac’s prayer for Rebekah (Gen 25:21). God hearkened, and the angel came again to the woman ‘as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her’ (v.9), and she ran to fetch him (v.10).

Verse 13

Of all that I said unto the woman — The angel gives Manoah no new instruction but sends him back to what the woman was told. ‘Let her beware’ uses the verb of v.4, shamar, to keep. Verse 14 repeats the list: nothing ‘that cometh of the vine’, no wine or strong drink, no unclean thing, and ‘all that I commanded her let her observe’.

Verse 16

thou must offer it unto the LORD — The angel refuses the meal and points the offering to the LORD, much as the angel of God at Gideon’s offering touched the meat with his staff so that fire consumed it (6:20–21). ‘Offer’ is alah, to cause to go up, the verb used when the flame ‘went up’ and the angel ‘ascended’ in v.20. The text adds that ‘Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD’.

Verse 18

seeing it is secret — ‘Secret’ is pil’i, wonderful, a word found elsewhere only in Ps 139:6, ‘too wonderful for me’. It shares its root with the angel who ‘did wondrously’ in v.19 (pala) and with the ‘Wonderful’ of Isa 9:6. When Jacob asked for a name the answer was also a question: ‘Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?’ (Gen 32:29).

Verse 20

ascended in the flame of the altar — The same verb, alah, covers the flame going up, the offering going up and the angel ascending. Manoah and his wife fell on their faces, as all the people did when fire came out from before the LORD upon the altar (Lev 9:24). Verse 21 says the angel did not appear again, and Manoah then knew him to be ‘an angel of the LORD’.

Verse 22

We shall surely die — Literally ‘dying we shall die’. The fear rests on the word to Moses, ‘there shall no man see me, and live’ (Ex 33:20). Gideon said the same when he saw the angel of the LORD face to face, and was told, ‘Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die’ (6:22–23). Manoah calls the visitor ‘God’.

Verse 23

If the LORD were pleased to kill us — The woman argues from what has been done. The LORD ‘received a burnt offering and a meat offering’ (the kid and grain offering of v.19), showed them ‘all these things’ in the flame, and told them of the child. The ‘meat offering’ (minchah) is the grain offering of Lev 2.

Verse 25

began to move him at times — ‘Began’ is chalal, the verb of v.5, ‘he shall begin to deliver Israel’. ‘Move’ is pa’am, to stir or impel; its four other occurrences are all rendered ‘troubled’ (Gen 41:8; Ps 77:4; Dan 2:1, 3). The camp of Dan lay between Zorah and Eshtaol, the towns of Dan’s inheritance (Josh 19:41), and Samson is buried there (16:31).