Judges 13:6-16

6 And when she had come to her husband, she said to him, A man of God came to me, and he had an angel's cheer, and he was full fearedful (and he had the face of an angel, and he was most frightening); and when I had asked him, who he was, and from whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not say to me;
7 but he answered thus, Lo! thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; (but) be thou ware, that thou drink no wine nor cider, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of the Lord, from his young age, and from the mother's womb, till to the day of his death (for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to the Lord, from his mother's womb, until the day of his death).
8 Therefore Manoah prayed the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech, that the man of God, whom thou sentest, come again, and teach us, what we ought to do of the child, that shall be born (what we ought to do with the child, who shall be born to us).
9 And the Lord heard Manoah praying; and the angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife sitting in the field; forsooth Manoah, her husband, was not with her.
10 And when she had seen the angel, she hasted, and ran to her husband, and told to him, and said, Lo! the man whom I saw before, (hath) appeared to me (again).
11 Which rose (And he arose), and followed his wife; and he came to the man, and said to him, Art thou he, that hast spoken to the woman? And he answered, I am.
12 To whom Manoah said, When thy word shall be fulfilled, what wilt thou, that the child do, either from what thing shall he keep himself? (and from what things should he keep himself?)
13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Abstain he himself from all things which I spake to thy wife. (And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Thy wife should abstain from all the things which I spoke to her about.)
14 And eat he not whatever thing cometh forth of the vine, drink he not wine, and cider, eat he not any unclean thing, and fulfill he; and keep that, that I commanded to him. (She should not eat anything that cometh forth from the vine, nor should she drink wine, or cider, or eat any unclean thing; she must fulfill, and obey what I have commanded to her.)
15 Therefore Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I beseech, that thou assent to my prayers, and we array to thee, that is, make ready to meat, a kid of the goats. (And then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I beseech thee, that thou assent to my prayers, and let us prepare a meal for thee, yea, a goat kid.)
16 To whom the angel of the Lord answered, Though thou (shalt) constrain me, I shall not eat thy bread; but if thou wilt make (a) burnt sacrifice, offer thou it to the Lord. And Manoah knew not, that it was an angel of the Lord (For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord).

Judges 13:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 13

This chapter relates the birth of Samson, another of the judges of Israel, which was foretold by an angel to his mother, who told her husband of it, Jud 13:1-7 upon whose entreaty the angel appeared again, and related the same to them both, Jud 13:8-14 and who was very, respectfully treated by the man, and by the wonderful things he did was known by him to be an angel of the Lord, which greatly surprised him, Jud 13:15-23 and the chapter is closed with an account of the birth of Samson, and of his being early endowed with the Spirit of God, Jud 13:24,25.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.