Judges 13

1 And again the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he betook them in[to] the hands of [the] Philistines (for) forty years.

2 Forsooth a man was of Zorah, of the kindred of Dan (And there was a man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan), Manoah by name, and he had a barren wife.

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).

8 Therefore Manoah prayed the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech, that the man of God, whom thou sentest, come again, and teach us, what we ought to do of the child, that shall be born (what we ought to do with the child, who shall be born to us).

9 And the Lord heard Manoah praying; and the angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife sitting in the field; forsooth Manoah, her husband, was not with her.

10 And when she had seen the angel, she hasted, and ran to her husband, and told to him, and said, Lo! the man whom I saw before, (hath) appeared to me (again).

11 Which rose (And he arose), and followed his wife; and he came to the man, and said to him, Art thou he, that hast spoken to the woman? And he answered, I am.

12 To whom Manoah said, When thy word shall be fulfilled, what wilt thou, that the child do, either from what thing shall he keep himself? (and from what things should he keep himself?)

13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Abstain he himself from all things which I spake to thy wife. (And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Thy wife should abstain from all the things which I spoke to her about.)

14 And eat he not whatever thing cometh forth of the vine, drink he not wine, and cider, eat he not any unclean thing, and fulfill he; and keep that, that I commanded to him. (She should not eat anything that cometh forth from the vine, nor should she drink wine, or cider, or eat any unclean thing; she must fulfill, and obey what I have commanded to her.)

15 Therefore Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I beseech, that thou assent to my prayers, and we array to thee, that is, make ready to meat, a kid of the goats. (And then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I beseech thee, that thou assent to my prayers, and let us prepare a meal for thee, yea, a goat kid.)

16 To whom the angel of the Lord answered, Though thou (shalt) constrain me, I shall not eat thy bread; but if thou wilt make (a) burnt sacrifice, offer thou it to the Lord. And Manoah knew not, that it was an angel of the Lord (For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord).

17 And Manoah said to him, What name is to thee, that if thy word be fulfilled, we (can) honour thee?

18 To whom he answered, Why askest thou my name, which is hid, either unknown?

19 Therefore Manoah took a goat kid, and flowing sacrifices (and the proper grain offering), and he put (them) upon a stone, and he offered them to the Lord that doeth wonderful things. And he and his wife beheld.

20 And when the flame of the altar ascended into heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended together in the flame (the angel of the Lord went up in the flame). And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they felled low to the earth.

21 And the angel of the Lord appeared no more to them. And at once Manoah understood, that he was the angel of the Lord.

22 And he said to his wife, We shall die by death, for we have seen the Lord.

23 To whom the woman answered, If the Lord would slay us, he would not have taken of our hands burnt sacrifices, and moist sacrifices, but neither he would have showed all these things to us, neither have said to us (of) those things, that be to coming. (To whom the woman answered, If the Lord intended to kill us, he would not have received out of our hands the burnt sacrifice, and the grain offering, nor would he have shown all these things to us, nor would he have told us of the things to come.)

24 And so she childed a son, and called his name Samson; and the child increased (in age), and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the tents of Dan, betwixt Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 13 Commentary

Chapter 13

The Philistines, Samson announced. (1-7) The angel appears to Manoah. (8-14) Manoah's sacrifice. (15-23) Birth of Samson. (24,25)

Verses 1-7 Israel did evil: then God delivered them again into the hands of the Philistines. When Israel was in this distress, Samson was born. His parents had been long childless. Many eminent persons were born of such mothers. Mercies long waited for, often prove signal mercies; and by them others may be encouraged to continue their hope in God's mercy. The angel notices her affliction. God often sends comfort to his people very seasonably, when they feel their troubles most. This deliverer of Israel must be devoted to God. Manoah's wife was satisfied that the messenger was of God. She gave her husband a particular account, both of the promise and of the precept. Husbands and wives should tell each other their experiences of communion with God, and their improvements in acquaintance with him, that they may help each other in the way that is holy.

Verses 8-14 Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet, as Manoah, have believed. Good men are more careful and desirous to know the duty to be done by them, than to know the events concerning them: duty is ours, events are God's. God will guide those by his counsel, who desire to know their duty, and apply to him to teach them. Pious parents, especially, will beg Divine assistance. The angel repeats the directions he had before given. There is need of much care for the right ordering both of ourselves and our children, that we may be duly separate from the world, and living sacrifices to the Lord.

Verses 15-23 What Manoah asked for instruction in his duty, he was readily told; but what he asked to gratify his curiosity, was denied. God has in his word given full directions concerning our duty, but never designed to answer other questionings. There are secret things which belong not to us, of which we must be quite contented to be ignorant, while in this world. The name of our Lord is wonderful and secret; but by his wonderful works he makes himself known as far as is needful for us. Prayer is the ascent of the soul to God. But without Christ in the heart by faith, our services are offensive smoke; in him, acceptable flame. We may apply this to Christ's sacrifice of himself for us; he ascended in the flame of his own offering, for by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, ( Hebrews 9:12 ) . In Manoah's reflections there is great fear; We shall surely die. In his wife's reflection there is great faith. As a help meet for him, she encouraged him. Let believers who have had communion with God in the word and prayer, to whom he has graciously manifested himself, and who have had reason to think God has accepted their works, take encouragement from thence in a cloudy and dark day. God would not have done what he has done for my soul, if he had designed to forsake me, and leave me to perish at last; for his work is perfect. Learn to reason as Manoah's wife; If God designed me to perish under his wrath, he would not give me tokens of his favour.

Verses 24-25 The Spirit of the Lord began to move Samson when a youth. This was evidence that the Lord blessed him. Where God gives his blessing, he gives his Spirit to qualify for the blessing. Those are blessed indeed in whom the Spirit of grace begins to work in the days of their childhood. Samson drank no wine or strong drink, yet excelled in strength and courage, for he had the Spirit of God moving him; therefore be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 13

This chapter relates the birth of Samson, another of the judges of Israel, which was foretold by an angel to his mother, who told her husband of it, Jud 13:1-7 upon whose entreaty the angel appeared again, and related the same to them both, Jud 13:8-14 and who was very, respectfully treated by the man, and by the wonderful things he did was known by him to be an angel of the Lord, which greatly surprised him, Jud 13:15-23 and the chapter is closed with an account of the birth of Samson, and of his being early endowed with the Spirit of God, Jud 13:24,25.