1 AND the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
7 But he said unto 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 the womb to the day of his death.
8 Then Manoah intreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
16 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord.
17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
21 But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

1And the children of Israel did euill againe in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord deliuered them into the hand of the Philistines forty yeeres.

2 And there was a certaine man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren, and bare not.

3And the Angel of the Lord appeared vnto the woman, and said vnto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceiue and beare a sonne.

4Now therefore beware I pray thee, and drinke not wine, nor strong drinke, and eat not any vncleane thing.

5For loe, thou shalt conceiue, and beare a sonne, and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite vnto God from the wombe: and he shall begin to deliuer Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6 Then the woman came, and told her husband, saying; A man of God came vnto mee, and his countenance was like the countenance of an Angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

7But he said vnto mee, Behold, thou shalt conceiue and beare a sonne; and now, drinke no wine nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing: for the childe shal be a Nazarite to God, from the wombe, to the day of his death.

8 Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send, come againe vnto vs, & teach vs what we shall do vnto the childe that shall be borne.

9And God hearkened to the voyce of Manoah; and the Angel of God came againe vnto the woman as shee sate in the field: But Manoah her husband was not with her.

10And the woman made haste, and ranne, and shewed her husband, and said vnto him; Behold, the man hath appeared vnto me, that came vnto me the other day.

11And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said vnto him, Art thou the man that spakest vnto the woman? And he said, I am.

12And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to passe: How shall wee order the childe, and how shall we doe vnto him?

13And the Angel of the Lord said vnto Manoah, Of all that I said vnto the woman, let her beware.

14She may not eate of any thing that commeth of the Uine, neither let her drinke wine or strong drinke, nor eat any vncleane thing: all that I commanded her, let her obserue.

15 And Manoah saide vnto the Angel of the Lord, I pray thee let vs deteine thee, vntill wee shall haue made ready a kid for thee.

16And the Angel of the Lord said vnto Manoah, Though thou deteine mee, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it vnto the Lord: for Manoah knew not that he was an Angel of the Lord.

17And Manoah said vnto the Angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to passe, we may doe thee honour?

18And the Angel of the Lord said vnto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

19So Manoah tooke a kid, with a meat offering, and offered it vpon a rocke vnto the Lord: and the Angel did wonderously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20For it came to passe, when the flame went vp toward heauen from off the altar, that the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

21(But the Angel of the Lord did no more appeare to Manoah and to his wife:) then Manoah knewe that he was an Angel of the Lord.

22And Manoah said vnto his wife, Wee shall surely die, because wee haue seene God.

23But his wife said vnto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill vs, he would not haue receiued a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would hee haue shewed vs all these things, nor would as at this time haue told vs such things as these.

24 And the woman bare a sonne, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, & the Lord blessed him.

25And the Spirit of the Lord beganne to mooue him at times in the campe of Dan, betweene Zorah and Eshtaol.

I == Judg 2:11 ; 3:7 ; 4:1 ; 6:1 ; 10:6 ; 1st Sam 12:9

II == Josh 19:41

 

 

III == Judg 6:12 ; Luke 1:11 , 13 , 28 , 31

 

IV == Num 6:2-3 ; Judg 13:4 ; Luke 1:15

V == Num 6:2 , 5 ; 1st Sam 1:11 ; 7:13 ; 2nd Sam 1:11 ; 7:13 ; 2nd Sam 8:1 ; 1st Chr 18:1

 

VI == Deut 33:1 ; Judg 13:17-18 ; 1st Sam 2:27 ; 9:6 ; 1st Kings 17:24 ; Matt 28:3 ; Luke 9:29 ; Acts 6:15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIV == Judg 13:4

 

 

XV == Gen 18:5 ; Judg 6:18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVIII == Gen 32:29 ; Isa 9:6

XIX == Judg 6:19-20

 

 

XX == Lev 9:24 ; 1st Chr 21:16 ; Ezek 1:28 ; Matt 17:6

 

 

XXI == Judg 6:22

 

XXII == Gen 32:30 ; Ex 33:20 ; Deut 5:26 ; Judg 6:22

 

 

 

 

XXIV == 1st Sam 3:19 ; Luke 1:80 ; 2:52 ; Heb 11:32

XXV == Josh 15:33 ; Judg 3:10 ; 18:11-12 ; 1st Sam 11:6 ; Matt 4:1

 

 

1 The Israelites again offended the LORD, who therefore delivered them into the power of the Philistines for forty years.

2 There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children.

3 An angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Though you are barren and have had no children, yet you will conceive and bear a son.

4 Now, then, be careful to take no wine or strong drink and to eat nothing unclean.

5 As for the son you will conceive and bear, no razor shall touch his head, for this boy is to be consecrated to God from the womb. It is he who will begin the deliverance of Israel from the power of the Philistines."

6 The woman went and told her husband, "A man of God came to me; he had the appearance of an angel of God, terrible indeed. I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.

7 But he said to me, 'You will be with child and will bear a son. So take neither wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb, until the day of his death.'"

8 Manoah then prayed to the LORD. "O LORD, I beseech you," he said, "may the man of God whom you sent, return to us to teach us what to do for the boy who will be born."

9 God heard the prayer of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field. Since her husband Manoah was not with her,

10 the woman ran in haste and told her husband. "The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me," she said to him;

11 so Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he reached the man, he said to him, "Are you the one who spoke to my wife?" "Yes," he answered.

12 Then Manoah asked, "Now, when that which you say comes true, what are we expected to do for the boy?"

13 The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "Your wife is to abstain from all the things of which I spoke to her.

14 She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor take wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. Let her observe all that I have commanded her."

15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Can we persuade you to stay, while we prepare a kid for you?"

16 But the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "Although you press me, I will not partake of your food. But if you will, you may offer a holocaust to the LORD."Not knowing that it was the angel of the LORD,

17 Manoah said to him, "What is your name, that we may honor you when your words come true?"

18 The angel of the LORD answered him, "Why do you ask my name, which is mysterious?"

19 Then Manoah took the kid with a cereal offering and offered it on the rock to the LORD, whose works are mysteries. While Manoah and his wife were looking on,

20 as the flame rose to the sky from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell prostrate to the ground;

21 but the angel of the LORD was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah, realizing that it was the angel of the LORD,

22 said to his wife, "We will certainly die, for we have seen God."

23 But his wife pointed out to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a holocaust and cereal offering from our hands! Nor would he have let us see all this just now, or hear what we have heard."

24 The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up and the LORD blessed him;

25 the spirit of the LORD first stirred him in Mahaneh-dan, which is between Zorah and Eshtaol.

v 1. Other oppressions have been going on in the north east while Philistines caused trouble for years in the southwest. There was an invasion of Sea People from Egypt about 1200 BC which allowed them to dominate over Israel with no resistance. They formed a confederacy of five towns, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. Manoah lived on east of Ekron near Zorah, at the very eastern edge of the original inheritance of Dan, before they enlarged to northern Palestine, see chapter 18.

v 2-5. Like Isaac, Samuel and John the Baptist, Samson’s birth was announced beforehand. The angel of the Lord, pre incarnate Christ, came to the barren wife of Manoah with several facts. She would conceive, bear a son, he was never to shave his head, he would be a Nazarite to God from the womb and would begin to deliver Israel. It was not until David’s time that Philistine oppression was broken.

v 6,7. She rushed to tell Manoah, but had been too awe stricken to ask the name or home of the “man”. She reported the additional facts that she was not to drink wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing, because the child was to be a Nazarite from the womb. In view of her own diet, v 7,14, this must have meant from conception, not just from birth.

v 8-14. Manoah prayed for additional instruction for raising the child. Perhaps he did not want to follow the instructions already given. More likely, he wanted to make sure he would approve what she was doing according to the law of vows in Num. 30. The Lord came to Manoah’s wife again, not to him, so she rushed to get him. After confirming this was the same man who had appeared before, Manoah asked for further instruction on raising the child. No further information was given, unless she had not previously been told not to eat anything that came from the vine, which would be grapes, raisins etc. This was stated in the form of warning for her as well as a command for Manoah’s cooperation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 15-18. The angel declined Manoah’s offer to eat, but allowed him to bring a burnt offering to the Lord. He also declined to tell His name saying it was beyond understanding, or “Wonderful”. Christ is called Wonderful in Isa. 9:6, giving proof that this was indeed pre incarnate Christ.

 

 

 

 

v 19- 23. Manoah offered the food upon a rock, and when the angel ascended in the flame, Manoah knew he had seen God. He thought they would die because of it, but his wife reasoned the offering would not have been accepted and the information given if God was going to kill them.

 

 

v 24,25. Their child, Samson, was the thirteenth judge. He was not a military leader, but his were lone exploits, very disturbing to the Philistines. The Spirit began to stir Samson at the camp of Dan, his home, between Zorah and Eshtaol, which was about a mile and a half northeast of Zorah. Perhaps this was recognizable by super human strength.