Judges 13:7

7 But he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean [thing]: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

Judges 13:7 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:7

But he said unto me, behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a
son
She says nothing of her barrenness, which the angel took notice of to her, that having been to her reproach:

and now drink no wine nor strong drink;
neither new wine nor old wine; so the Targum as before:

neither eat any unclean thing;
which was so in a ceremonial sense; otherwise every creature of God is good, and not to be called common or unclean; it here respects what was forbidden Nazarites to eat; see ( Judges 13:4 )

for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb;
it is here added, what is not before expressed,

unto his death;
for he was to be a perpetual Nazarite; some were only Nazarites for a time, for so many days or months, according to their vow; but this son was to be a Nazarite all his days, by the appointment of God; nor is it any objection to what is here said, that his hair was cut off before his death, which caused his Nazariteship to cease; since these words are not a prophecy, but a precept; and besides, that affair happened but a little before his death, he died quickly afterwards.

Judges 13:7 In-Context

5 For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth: and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance [was] like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he [was], neither did he tell me his name:

7 But he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean [thing]: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God, whom thou didst send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.

9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her.