Judges 13:5

5 for thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, whose head a razor shall not touch; for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of God, from his young age, and from the mother's womb (for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to God, from his mother's womb); and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines.

Judges 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:5

For, lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son
Which is not only repeated for the confirmation of it, but that she might take notice that he was to be a Nazarite, and therefore must conform to everything agreeable to the law of the Nazarites, and take care that it was observed in him:

and no razor shall come on his head;
to cut off the hair of it, not from the time of his birth to his death; for he was to be a perpetual Nazarite: other Nazarites during the time of their Nazariteship were not to suffer a razor to come upon them, but afterwards might; but for such an one as Samson, it was not lawful ever to suffer his hair to be cut off; see ( Numbers 6:5 )

for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb;
in which he was a type of Christ, who was sanctified by the Lord, separated from sinners, and called a "Nazarene": was born of a virgin, as Samson was of a barren woman, and his birth foretold by an angel as this:

and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the
Philistines;
for the salvation he wrought for Israel was not complete and perfect; it was only begun by him, and carried on in the times of Eli, Samuel, and Saul, and perfected by David. In this his antitype exceeds him, who is the author of the complete salvation of his people out of the hands of all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world; though in this there is a great resemblance between Samson and our Lord Jesus, in that what he did he did himself alone; not at the head of an army, and with forces under him, as other judges; so Christ with his own arm, and of himself, and without others, wrought salvation for his people; see ( Isaiah 63:5 ) .

Judges 13:5 In-Context

3 To which wife an angel of the Lord appeared, and said to her, Thou art barren, and without free children; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Therefore be thou ware, lest thou drink wine, and cider (or cider), neither eat thou any unclean thing;
5 for thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, whose head a razor shall not touch; for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of God, from his young age, and from the mother's womb (for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to God, from his mother's womb); and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines.
6 And when she had come to her husband, she said to him, A man of God came to me, and he had an angel's cheer, and he was full fearedful (and he had the face of an angel, and he was most frightening); and when I had asked him, who he was, and from whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not say to me;
7 but he answered thus, Lo! thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; (but) be thou ware, that thou drink no wine nor cider, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of the Lord, from his young age, and from the mother's womb, till to the day of his death (for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to the Lord, from his mother's womb, until the day of his death).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.