Judges 13

KJV · Chapter 13/21

¹And 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.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

⁵For, 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.

⁶Then 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:

⁷But 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.

⁸Then 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And 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.

¹²And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

¹³And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

¹⁴She 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.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

¹⁸And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

¹⁹So 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.

²⁰For 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.

²¹But 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.

²²And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

²³But 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.

²⁴And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

²⁵And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

An angel of the LORD announces to Manoah and his barren wife the birth of Samson, who would be a Nazirite from the womb and would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.

Explanation

The announced birth of Samson follows a recurring biblical pattern of barren mothers who receive promised sons through divine intervention (like Sarah, Rachel, and later Hannah), signaling that this child would play a special role in Israel's history. The restrictions of the Nazirite vow - not drinking wine, not cutting the hair, not touching anything unclean - were a call to total consecration from birth, showing that God was preparing Samson for a specific mission even before he could choose it for himself. Manoah's fearful reaction after realizing he had spoken with a divine messenger ('we shall surely die, because we have seen God') is balanced by his wife's practical wisdom, who reasons that God would not have accepted their offerings if He had wanted to kill them - a simple but effective argument that calms her husband's fear.

Fun facts

The Nazirite vow, described in detail in Numbers 6, was normally temporary and voluntary for adults, but in Samson's case (and later Samuel's) it was imposed as a lifelong condition even before birth.
The name Samson (Shimshon in Hebrew) is related to the word 'shemesh,' meaning sun - a name perhaps ironic given his destiny of shining strength followed by a fall into the darkness of blindness.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Judges 13:1Israel again does what is evil in the sight of the Lord, and He delivers them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years, the longest oppression in the book so far.
Judges 13:2A man named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, lives in Zorah; his wife is barren and has never been able to have children.
Judges 13:3The angel of the Lord appears to this woman and announces that, despite being barren, she will conceive and have a son.
Judges 13:4The angel instructs her from now on not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean, since these rules will also apply to the son who is about to be born.
Judges 13:5Samson is consecrated a Nazirite from the womb, meaning he must never cut his hair, never drink wine or strong drink, and never touch anything unclean. These are three rules he will break, one by one, throughout his own story, leading to his final downfall with Delilah.
Judges 13:6The woman tells her husband Manoah that a man of frightening appearance, like an angel of God, appeared to her, but she did not ask where he came from nor learn his name.
Judges 13:7She repeats the instruction she received: she will have a son who will be a Nazirite of God from the womb to the day of his death, so she must not drink wine or eat anything unclean.
Judges 13:8Manoah prays, asking that the man of God come back to teach them how to care for the boy who is about to be born.
Judges 13:9God answers the request, and the angel appears again to the woman, but this time she is alone in the field, with her husband nowhere near.
Judges 13:10The woman runs quickly to tell her husband that the same man from before had appeared again.
Judges 13:11Manoah gets up, follows his wife to the man, and asks if he is the one who had spoken with her before; the angel confirms that he is.
Judges 13:12Manoah then asks what the life and mission of the boy who is about to be born should be like, wanting more detailed instructions.
Judges 13:13The angel answers that the woman must follow everything already told to her before, without adding anything new for Manoah.
Judges 13:14The angel repeats the rules: nothing that comes from the vine, no wine, no strong drink, no unclean food; everything already commanded must be kept to the letter.
Judges 13:15Manoah asks the angel to stay a little longer, offering to prepare a young goat for him.
Judges 13:16The angel refuses to eat, saying that if Manoah wants to offer a burnt offering, he must offer it to the Lord, not to him; the text explains that Manoah still had not realized he was speaking with the angel of the Lord.
Judges 13:17Manoah asks the visitor's name, so he can honor him when the promise is fulfilled.
Judges 13:18The angel answers by asking why Manoah wants to know his name, since it is secret, something beyond human understanding.
Judges 13:19Manoah offers the young goat and a grain offering on a rock to the Lord, and the angel does something wondrous before him and his wife as they watch.
Judges 13:20When the flame from the altar rises to the sky, the angel goes up in the flame; seeing this, Manoah and his wife fall with their faces to the ground in astonishment.
Judges 13:21The angel never appears again to Manoah or his wife after this; only then does Manoah become certain that it really was the angel of the Lord.
Judges 13:22Manoah tells his wife that they will surely die, because they believed that seeing God directly brought that consequence.
Judges 13:23His wife reassures him with simple logic: if the Lord had wanted to kill them, He would not have accepted the sacrifice or shown them so many wonderful things.
Judges 13:24The woman gives birth to a son and names him Samson; the boy grows up, and the Lord blesses him.
Judges 13:25The Spirit of the Lord begins to stir Samson while he is still young, in the area between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the territory of the tribe of Dan.