Judges 13:1-25
1 And the children of Israel did evila again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines 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 bare not.
3 And 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.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, 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.
6 Then 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:
7 But 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.
8 Then 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.
9 And 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.
10 And 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.
11 And 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.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we orderb the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
14 She 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.
15 And 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.c
16 And 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.
17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
19 So 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.
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 it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
21 But 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.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 But 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.
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the campd of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges 13:1. Forty years. There are no exact dates of the commencement and termination of this servitude. Therefore to harmonize it with the four hundred and eighty years from the going out of Egypt, to the fourth year of Solomon, 1 Kings 16:1, nearly twenty years of this oppression must have expired on the birth of Samson. Consequently, it must have commenced about the end of Ibzan's presidency.
Judges 13:3. The angel of the Lord appeared. He is called the angel of the Lord, Genesis 22:15; he sware by himself, and was assuredly the Messiah. Manoah calls him God, and his wife, JEHOVAH. And though he declined accepting the sacrifice, and bade Manoah offer it upon the rock to JEHOVAH, “who does wonderful things;” yet it was solely in the way that our Saviour refused to be called good, being then in the form of a servant. The answer he returned, when asked to tell his name, was in substance the same as when Jacob asked his name. It was secret, or wonderful, as Isaiah 9:6.
Judges 13:5. A Nazarite. See note on Numbers 6:1. He shall begin the work of deliverance, and David shall temporally, and the Messiah spiritually complete it.
Judges 13:19. The angel did wondrously, by causing fire to consume the sacrifice. The LXX, followed by the Vulgate, read, “Manoah offered it on a rock to the Lord, who doth wonderful things.”
Judges 13:22. We shall surely die. This sentiment being of frequent occurrence in the Hebrew scriptures, Judges 6:22; and in the Gentile mythology, some of the ancients must have died in their approaches to the divine presence. Ovid's Metam. lib. 3., and Cicero of the nature of the gods, lib. 3., mention the death of Semelè, mother of Bacchus by Jupiter, how she was consumed by the approaches of the father of the gods, when she had rashly desired to see his brightness; and that the child, dropping &c., was sewed up in the thigh of Jupiter, to complete the time of pregnancy. Dr. Stukely thinks that these sacred figures designate the divine and human geniture of Christ.
Judges 13:23. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering. Be encouraged, oh trembling soul; the Lord who inspires thy prayer, will give thee an answer of peace.
REFLECTIONS.
This chapter opens with a new scene of mercy, in the singular preparation for the deliverance of Israel, long and frequently oppressed. It exhibits the never-failing care of God over his church and people, and a care most clearly manifested by special interpositions, whenever they cry under the visitations of his hand.
The good news came to Manoah and his wife when they expected no such favour, but were apparently fully reconciled to their childless lot. It is almost an invariable method with God to try those whom he greatly honours: let the christian wait, and God will one day more than realize his hopes, and deliver him from every fear.
This divine Hercules, this infant judge of Israel was born in the tribe of Dan, whose lot was bounded by Philistia, on the west; and thus the Lord raised up a deliverer in presence of the enemy. Ah, haughty oppressor, let thy youths and thy princes tremble: He is born who shall requite thee according to thy sins. Moses also was born in the time of oppression; and thus God will ever in due time save those that call upon his name.
Samson's extraordinary endowment of strength was connected with the purity and laws of a Nazarite; for many in Israel, it is probable, equalled him in point of natural strength; and in that respect, as well as in several circumstances of his birth, he is a figure of Christ. If his locks were at any time shorn, that strength was forfeited. God has generally been pleased to give some covenant seals to man, as the rainbow with Noah, circumcision, &c. In like manner, all that divine power afforded the christian to vanquish his foes, is connected with his abiding in covenant with God.
Conformably to all those intimations, the Spirit of the Lord began to move him in the camp of Dan. The soul of a hero and a prince made its appearance when occasions offered; almost every man designated of providence for eminence in church or state, has afforded in infancy and youth hopeful indications of future glory. Who can decypher the emotions of the youthful mind when contemplating the character of a hero in the field, a minister in the sanctuary, or any object which interests the soul? Surely these are omens that God has for him better things in store than are yet revealed. Surely these emotions should prompt him to industry in mental and virtuous improvements. Every young man, contemplating so many scripture characters, whose hearts were early touched with grace, should most religiously devote himself to God, that he may be ready for every work and service to which he may be called.