Judges 13:5

5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. 1No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be 2a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall 3begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines."

Judges 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:5

For, lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son
Which is not only repeated for the confirmation of it, but that she might take notice that he was to be a Nazarite, and therefore must conform to everything agreeable to the law of the Nazarites, and take care that it was observed in him:

and no razor shall come on his head;
to cut off the hair of it, not from the time of his birth to his death; for he was to be a perpetual Nazarite: other Nazarites during the time of their Nazariteship were not to suffer a razor to come upon them, but afterwards might; but for such an one as Samson, it was not lawful ever to suffer his hair to be cut off; see ( Numbers 6:5 )

for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb;
in which he was a type of Christ, who was sanctified by the Lord, separated from sinners, and called a "Nazarene": was born of a virgin, as Samson was of a barren woman, and his birth foretold by an angel as this:

and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the
Philistines;
for the salvation he wrought for Israel was not complete and perfect; it was only begun by him, and carried on in the times of Eli, Samuel, and Saul, and perfected by David. In this his antitype exceeds him, who is the author of the complete salvation of his people out of the hands of all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world; though in this there is a great resemblance between Samson and our Lord Jesus, in that what he did he did himself alone; not at the head of an army, and with forces under him, as other judges; so Christ with his own arm, and of himself, and without others, wrought salvation for his people; see ( Isaiah 63:5 ) .

Judges 13:5 In-Context

3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean,
5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines."
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name,
7 but he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'"

Cross References 3

  • 1. Judges 16:17; 1 Samuel 1:11; [Numbers 6:5]
  • 2. [See ver. 4 above]
  • 3. [1 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 8:1; 1 Chronicles 18:1]
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.