Judges 13:2

2 Forsooth a man was of Zorah, of the kindred of Dan (And there was a man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan), Manoah by name, and he had a barren wife.

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 again the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he betook them in[to] the hands of [the] Philistines (for) forty years.

2 Forsooth a man was of Zorah, of the kindred of Dan (And there was a man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan), Manoah by name, and he had a barren wife.

3 To which wife an angel of the Lord appeared, and said to her, Thou art barren, and without free children; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4 Therefore be thou ware, lest thou drink wine, and cider (or cider), neither eat thou any unclean thing;

5 for thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, whose head a razor shall not touch; for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of God, from his young age, and from the mother's womb (for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to God, from his mother's womb); and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines.