The Birth of Samson
13 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 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. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 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.” 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, 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.’”
Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” And God listened 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. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.
The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
(ESV)
Judges 13 Commentary
In Judges 13, the Israelites did evil in God’s sight yet again. God allowed the Philistines to oppress them for 40 years. An angel appeared to the barren wife of Manoah, a man from the tribe of Dan, and told her she would conceive a son. She was instructed to avoid wine, beer, and unclean food because her son would be a Nazirite from birth and would begin delivering Israel from the Philistines.
She told her husband, Manoah, who prayed for further instruction. The angel appeared again, and Manoah asked about raising the child. The angel repeated the instructions but did not reveal his name, saying it was beyond understanding. When Manoah offered a sacrifice, the angel ascended in the flames, revealing his divine nature. Manoah realized they had seen the angel of the Lord and feared they would die for seeing God, but his wife reassured him. She gave birth to Samson, whom God blessed, and His Spirit began working in him.
The Angel of the Lord
We have seen this term come up several times throughout Joshua and Judges. In fact, it appears at least 9 times up to this point in the Bible (Gen 16:7-14; Gen 21:17-18; Gen 22:11-18; Exod 3:2-6; Exod 14:19; Num 22:22-35; Jdg 2:1-4; Jdg 5:23; Jdg 6:11-24).
Who is the the angel of the Lord? He comes to give instructions regarding Samson, but has some strange responses that cause us to pause and question.
“And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?””
Judges 13:18 ESV
This reminds me of Isaiah 9.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 ESV
I believe this was the preincarnate Jesus making His appearance in the Old Testament. At the very least, we know this was an appearance of God Himself because Manoah plainly states it.
“The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. [22] “We’re certainly going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!””
Judges 13:21-22 CSB
The Nazarite Vow
Judges 13 is a callback to the Nazarite vow in the book of Numbers which had three main requirements:
- No strong drink or grapes: Wine symbolizes earthly joy, but the Nazarite was to find joy in the Lord. Eph 5:18 and Gal 5:22-23 emphasize that true joy comes from being filled with the Spirit.
- No cutting of hair: Long hair symbolized willingness to bear shame for God, as seen in 1 Cor 11:14.
- No contact with the dead: A Nazarite was to put God above all natural ties, aligning with Luk 14:26-27, where Jesus calls for complete devotion to Him above family and personal desires.
Set Apart
Remember, Judges is a book of themes. We see another one rise to the surface here in Judges 13. The Lord gives specific instructions for Samson to be set apart through his Nazarite vow. Many read this and groan. You mean he can’t have any wine or beer? He can’t get that new fresh fade cut? To some, the privilege of being set apart reads as a chore or a restriction. But this is not so. It was an incredible honor to be set apart.
Samson’s identity was prepared ahead of time to have less of the world and more of God. The temporal restrictions that were given to Samson could not compare to the glory that would inhabit his spirit and being. He was not only set apart in his identity; he was set apart in his works. Through the Holy Spirit, Samson would accomplish incredible feats.
The reality for us today is that God has given us the very same privilege. We have been given the Holy Spirit as a permanent resident in our spirit and being. Your identity was prepared ahead of time to have less of the world and more of God. You have been set apart to accomplish incredible feats through the presence of the Lord!
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— [9] not from works, so that no one can boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10 CSB
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. [4] For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.”
Ephesians 1:3-4 CSB
“He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”
2 Timothy 1:9 CSB
Just like Samson was given an important kingdom task – to save Israel from the Philistines. We have also been given an important kingdom task – to go and make disciples of all nations!
