Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Judges 13:1) 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.
In the last chapter and post, the Israelites had lived in relative peace under the successors of Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. However, it seems they turned back to their evil ways, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines who oppressed them for 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 bore not.
There was a man from Zorah in the tribe of Dan whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne him no children.
(3) And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and do not bear, but you shall conceive and bear a son."
An angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and told her that although she was barren and had borne no children, she would, in fact, conceive and bear a son.
(4) "Now therefore, beware, I pray you, and do not drink wine or strong drink and do not eat any unclean thing."
The angel went on to tell the woman to be careful and not drink any intoxicating drink nor eat any unclean food.
(5) "For, lo, you shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
The angel told her she would bear a special son dedicated to the Lord from her womb. Nazarites were people who took a vow to be set apart from others for the service of God. Chapter 6 of Numbers defined the life of a Nazarite. They were to abstain from any wine or strong drink, never to cut their hair, and keep away from any unclean dead body even if a member of their family died. Taking the vow of a Nazarite was usually a voluntary vow someone made, but in the case of Manoah's wife's child, he was to be a Nazarite from the womb, and he would 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 to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very awesome, but I did not ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name."
Manoah's wife went to Manoah and told him about the man of God who seemed like an angel who came to her. She described him as very awesome, but she had not asked him where he came from, nor did the man tell her his name.
(7) "But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death."
The woman went on to tell her husband how the man of God had told her she would bear a son who would be a Nazarite all his life from the womb to his death, and she was to drink no wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing while she carried him.
(8) Then Manoah intreated the Lord, and said, "O my Lord, let the man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born."
Manoah then prayed to the Lord that He send the man of God to them again to teach them how they were to raise their son.
(9) And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to 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 showed her husband, and said to him, "Behold, the man has appeared to me who came to me the other day."
God answered Manoah's prayer and did indeed send the angel of God to his wife again while she sat in the field. However, her husband was not with her. But she hurried and ran to Manoah to tell him that the man of God who had come to her before had come to her again.
(11) And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man, and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." (12) And Manoah said, "Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do to him?"
Manoah immediately rose up and followed his wife to the man. He asked him if he was indeed the man who had appeared to his wife before, and the man confirmed that he was. Manoah had no problem believing that this man was indeed delivering a message from God, but he wanted to know what he and his wife were to do regarding the raising of their son, seeing he was to be entirely dedicated to the Lord.
(13) And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman, let her beware. (14) She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her, let her observe."
The angel of the Lord told Manoah that his wife should be careful to do all that he had told her, and he repeated it to Manoah. She was not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat the fruit of the vine, nor eat any unclean thing. The things he had already told to her, she was to observe. However, it is notable that the angel of God did not repeat that their son was to begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines. I imagine that was purposely to be kept secret so as not to endanger the pregnant woman or her baby son.
(15) And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "I pray you, let us detain you until we shall have made ready a kid for you."
Manoah then asked the angel of the Lord to stay until he and his wife had prepared a meal for him, I'm sure just being gracious hosts and surely in gratitude that he had brought such a message to them.
(16) And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat of your bread, and if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord." For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord.
The angel of the Lord told Manoah that even though he and his wife detained him, he would not eat their meal. However, if they were preparing the kid for sacrifice, then they must offer it to the Lord God, and not to him or any false god as seems was probably the practice in Israel at that time (verse 1). Manoah did not realize that the man was an angel of God. He understood him to be a man of God delivering a prophesy to him but did not know he was an angel.
(17) And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, that when your sayings come to pass, we may do you honor."
Manoah then asked the angel what his name was so that when his prophesy came true, Manoah and his wife would know to whom they should give honor.
(18) And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask after my name, seeing it is secret?"
The angel asked why Manoah should want to know his name, seeing that it was secret. One definition of "secret" is "beyond ordinary human understanding," and I believe that is what is meant here. The original word that was translated as "secret" was "paliy." It also meant "wonderful" which is how the word was translated in Psalm 139:6. Some scholars take that to mean that this angel was Jesus Himself, as one of His names is Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6).
(19) So Manoah took a kid with a grain offering and offered it upon a rock to the Lord, and he 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 and fell on their faces to the ground.
Manoah took a kid goat with a grain offering and offered it on a rock to the Lord. And then the angel did a remarkable thing as Manoah and his wife looked on. When the flame went up toward heaven from off the rock altar, the angel of the Lord ascended with it to heaven. That does possibly suggest that it might have been Jesus who ascended to heaven. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they fell on their faces to the ground.
(21) But the angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.
The angel did not return back to Manoah and his wife, and Manoah perceived that he was indeed an angel of the Lord and not a mere man.
(22) And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die because we have seen God!"
Then Manoah, believing they must have just seen God, told his wife that they would surely die, because no man could see the face of God and live (Exodus 33:20).
(23) But his wife said to him, "If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, neither would He have showed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such as these."
Manoah's wife correctly discerned that if God had planned to kill them, He would not have received their offering as He had done, nor would He have given them the message that He did.
(24) And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson, and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
Manoah's wife indeed bore a son as the angel had told her she would, and she called him Samson. 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.
As he grew, the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon Samson within the tribe of Dan between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.
In this chapter, we have the birth of the last of the judges of Israel, Samson. His was a miraculous birth, as his mother had been barren. However, his mother received a divine message from the Lord that she would bear a son, and he was to be a Nazarite from the womb, to be set apart for God's purposes.
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