Judges 13:2

2 Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife had never given birth to a child.

Judges 13:2 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:2

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the
Danites
Of the tribe of Dan, in which tribe Zorah was, and seems to have lain both on the borders of Judah and Dan, ( Joshua 15:33 ) ( 19:41 ) ; (See Gill on Joshua 15:33), (See Gill on Joshua 19:41), and this man was not a mean man, but of rank and figure, a principal man in the country, according to Josephus {g}; though the Talmudists ^F8 say he was a plebeian:

whose name was Manoah;
which signifies "rest", and has much the same signification as Noah; and by this name he was well known in those times, and among his people:

and his wife was barren, and bare not;
had no child, as the Targum; and it is observed by many, that several eminent persons were born of women that had been barren, as Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, and John the Baptist; and it is remarkable, that the strongest man that ever was born of such a woman, as the following account relates. The name of this woman, the mother of Samson, is said ^F9 to be Zalalponith; see ( 1 Chronicles 4:3 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Antique. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 2.
F8 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 61. 1.
F9 T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 91. 1. Juchasin, fol. 10. 8.

Judges 13:2 In-Context

1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

2 Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife had never given birth to a child.

3 And the angel of the Lord came to the woman, and said to her, See now! though you have never given birth to children, you will be with child and give birth to a son.

4 Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food;

5 For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines.