Judges 13:1

Birth of Samson, the Last Judge

1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord's sight,^[a] so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines 40 years.

Judges 13:1 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:1

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,
&c.] Committed idolatry, which was the evil they were prone unto, and were frequently guilty of:

and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty
years:
which according to Josephus ^F6 are to be reckoned from the death of the last judge, and the time of Samson's birth; or rather from some time after the death of Jephthah, particularly taking in the two last years of Ibzan, when the Ephraimites having been weakened through the slaughter of them by Jephthah, might encourage the Philistines to break in upon them; from which time to the birth of Samson were twenty years, and twenty more may be allowed before he could begin to deliver Israel out of their hands; so that the oppression lasted forty years. According to others, it began at the same time as the oppression of the Ammonites did, though it lasted longer, ( Judges 10:7 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 5.) c. 8. sect. 1.

Judges 13:1 In-Context

1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines 40 years.

2 There was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was barren and had no children.

3 The Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "It is true that you are barren and have no children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son.

4 Now please be careful not to drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, or to eat anything unclean;

5 for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines."

Footnotes

• [a]. Jdg 3:12; 4:1; 10:6