Judges 13:1

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.

Judges 13:1 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:1

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,
&c.] Committed idolatry, which was the evil they were prone unto, and were frequently guilty of:

and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty
years:
which according to Josephus ^F6 are to be reckoned from the death of the last judge, and the time of Samson's birth; or rather from some time after the death of Jephthah, particularly taking in the two last years of Ibzan, when the Ephraimites having been weakened through the slaughter of them by Jephthah, might encourage the Philistines to break in upon them; from which time to the birth of Samson were twenty years, and twenty more may be allowed before he could begin to deliver Israel out of their hands; so that the oppression lasted forty years. According to others, it began at the same time as the oppression of the Ammonites did, though it lasted longer, ( Judges 10:7 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 5.) c. 8. sect. 1.

Judges 13:1 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.