Judges 13:4

4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.

Judges 13:4 in Other Translations

KJV
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
ESV
4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean,
NLT
4 So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.
MSG
4 But take much care: Drink no wine or beer; eat nothing ritually unclean.
CSB
4 Now please be careful not to drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, or to eat anything unclean;

Judges 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:4

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor
strong drink
Any liquor inebriating and intoxicating, neither new wine nor old wine, as the Targum, and so Jarchi; the reason of this appears in the next verse, because the child she should conceive and bear was to be a Nazarite, and to be one from his mother's womb; and from all such liquors, Nazarites, according to the law, were to abstain, ( Numbers 6:3 )

and eat not any unclean thing;
meaning not so much such sort of food as was forbidden by the law to be eaten, which every Israelite was to abstain from, but such as were particularly forbidden to Nazarites, as moist and dried grapes, or anything made of the vine tree, from the kernel to the husk, ( Numbers 6:3 Numbers 6:4 ) . The reason of this is, because the child in the womb is nourished with the same the mother is; and as this child was to be a Nazarite from the womb, and even in it, his mother was to abstain both from eatables and drinkables forbidden a Nazarite by the law.

Judges 13:4 In-Context

2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.
3 The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.
4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.
5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
6 Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Leviticus 10:9
  • 2. ver 14; Numbers 6:2-4; S Luke 1:15
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