Judges 13

The people of Israel once again did what the LORD said was evil. So the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who ruled them for forty years.

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.

NoteThe book of Judges runs on a repeating pattern, and this line is the formula that starts each round: Israel does evil, a foreign power dominates them, they cry out, and a deliverer is raised up. "Did evil in the sight of the LORD" is a set phrase in Hebrew meaning conduct the LORD judged as evil, not simply behavior he happened to observe. The Philistines were a people settled on the coastal plain south-west of Israel, organized around five cities (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath), and they were Israel's dominant rival in this period. Unusually, this cycle has no report of Israel crying out for help.

2There was a man from the town of Zorah named Manoah. He belonged to the family group of Dan. His wife could not have children, and she had never given birth.

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.

NoteZorah lay in the low hill country about fifteen miles west of Jerusalem, close to Philistine territory. The tribe of Dan had been allotted land in this area but was under pressure from the Philistines and never fully held it. In this culture childlessness carried heavy social weight: a family without children had no one to inherit its land, care for it in old age, or carry its name. The KJV's "barren, and bare not" doubles the point for emphasis, as the Hebrew does.

3The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "It is true that you cannot have children and have never given birth. But you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.

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.

Note"The angel of the LORD" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning "the messenger of the LORD." In stories like this one the figure is spoken of both as a messenger sent by God and, at points, as God himself, verse 22 has Manoah say they have seen God. The ambiguity is in the Hebrew, not introduced by the translation.

4So from now on, please be careful. Do not drink wine or any other strong drink, and do not eat anything that is unclean.

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

Note"Strong drink" translates Hebrew *shekar*, meaning intoxicating drink made from something other than grapes, grain beer, or drink fermented from dates or other fruit. "Unclean" refers to the food restrictions that marked Israel out as a people (set out in Leviticus 11), not to dirt or spoilage.

5Listen: you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. No razor is ever to touch his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite, set apart for God, from the time he is in the womb. He will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines."

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.

NoteA Nazirite (Hebrew *nazir*, "one separated" or "dedicated") took a vow described in Numbers 6: no wine or anything from the grapevine, no cutting of the hair, and no contact with a dead body. Normally it was a voluntary vow taken by an adult for a fixed period; here it is imposed on the child before birth and lasts for life. "He shall begin to deliver Israel" is precise wording, Samson starts the work rather than finishing it; the Philistine domination continues past his death.

6Then the woman went and told her husband, "A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, and the sight of him was terrifying. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

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:

Note"A man of God" was the ordinary way of referring to a prophet, so the woman describes the visitor as she would a human messenger. "Very terrible" in 1611 English meant awe-inspiring, causing fear and dread, not "very bad." Asking a stranger where he was from and what he was called was normal courtesy; she is reporting that she got neither answer.

7But he said to me, 'You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. So do not drink wine or any other strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite, set apart for God, from the womb until the day he dies.'"

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 prayed to the LORD and said, "Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come to us again. Let him teach us what to do for the boy who is going to be born."

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.

9God listened to Manoah. The angel of God came again to the woman while she was sitting out in the field. Her husband Manoah was not with her.

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.

10The woman hurried and ran to tell her husband. She said to him, "Look, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again!"

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.

11Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" "I am," he said.

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.

12Then Manoah said, "When your words come true, how should the boy live, and what work will he do?"

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

Note"How shall we order the child" uses "order" in its older sense of "regulate, manage." Manoah is asking two things: what rules the boy must live by, and what he is to be for, his manner of life and his task.

13The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her.

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

14She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine. She must not drink wine or any other strong drink, and she must not eat anything unclean. She must do everything I commanded her."

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.

15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Please stay with us long enough for us to cook a young goat for you."

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.

Note"Detain thee" is not force; it is the ordinary language of pressing a guest to stay. Preparing a young goat was an expensive gesture of hospitality (meat was eaten rarely) and the same offer is made to divine visitors elsewhere in these stories. Manoah still thinks he is entertaining a man.

16The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD." Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.

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.

NoteA burnt offering was consumed entirely by fire on the altar; unlike other sacrifices, none of it was eaten by the worshipers. The messenger's answer therefore redirects a meal for a guest into an offering for God, which is why the two possibilities are set against each other here.

17Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we can honor you when your words come true?"

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?

NoteKnowing someone's name mattered in this culture: it allowed you to speak of them, call on them, and repay them publicly. Manoah wants to be able to honor the messenger by name once the promise proves true.

18The angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."

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

NoteKJV "secret" translates Hebrew *pil'i*, which means wonderful, extraordinary, beyond human grasp, not merely being kept hidden. It comes from the same root as the word describing what happens next, when the messenger "did wonderously" (verse 19).

19So Manoah took a young goat, along with a grain offering, and offered it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched.

19So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

Note"Meat offering" is 1611 English, where "meat" meant food of any kind; the offering was grain, flour with oil, not flesh. Note that the sacrifice is made on a bare rock rather than at a sanctuary; the text calls that rock an altar in the next verse.

20As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw it, they fell facedown on the ground.

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.

21The angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah and his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he had been the angel of the LORD.

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.

22Manoah said to his wife, "We are certainly going to die, because we have seen God!"

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

NoteThe fear rests on a widely held conviction in Israel that a human being could not see God directly and survive; the same assumption appears in Exodus 33 and elsewhere. Manoah is not saying they have done wrong, but that they have seen something no one lives through.

23But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands. He would not have shown us all these things, and he would not have told us things like this now."

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.

24The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the LORD blessed him.

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

NoteThe name Samson (Hebrew *Shimshon*) is built on *shemesh*, "sun." The nearby town of Beth-shemesh, "house of the sun," stood in the same valley.

25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him from time to time in the camp of Dan, between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.

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

Note"The camp of Dan" is a place name, Mahaneh-dan, in the stretch of country between Zorah and Eshtaol; it reappears in Judges 18. The verb translated "move" or "stir" suggests being driven or disturbed into action, and "at times" signals that this came over him in bursts rather than continuously.