FRAMEWORKS:
Judges 13 :
The Birth of Samson
v.1-5
An Angel tells a woman of a coming pregnancy
v.6-8
On being told, her husband prays
v.9-15
The Angel comes again and confirms the message
v.16-21
Manoah at last believes
v.22-25
Samson is born
[Preliminary
Notes:
The story of Samson is, at first sight, theologically confusing.
Samson is clearly chosen by God – before he is born [check our
Jer 1:5] – and indeed God enables a barren woman to conceive.
He is called to be a Nazirite [see Num 6:1-8 for the vow of a
Nazirite], the objective of which is dedication to God. Samson
is one by name only; he is more dedicated to his own desires,
focused mostly on women. As a result of this he constantly gets
into trouble with the Philistines who are oppressing Israel at
this time, who God had used to discipline Israel [13:1] in the
south of the country at least. The Lord uses Samson's self-centred
desires to come against the Philistines and deliver Israel again,
although there is no mention of Israel's repentance after 40 years
oppression by the Philistines.]
v.1-5
An Angel tells a woman of a coming pregnancy
v.1
Again
the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord
, so the
Lord
delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
v.2
A
certain man of Zorah, named Manoah , from the
clan of the Danites, [a central
but coastal tribal region north of Philistia] had
a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.
v.3
The
angel of the Lord
appeared to her
and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to
become pregnant and give birth to a son.
v.4
Now
see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and
that you do not eat anything unclean.
v.5 You
will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be
touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated
to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering
Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
[Notes:
The story starts off with a barren wife – not uncommon in the
Bible – see Sarai [Gen 11:30], Rebekah [Gen 25:21], Rachel [Gen
29:31], Hannah [1 Sam 1:5,6], Elizabeth [Lk 1:7] and the Lord
enabling her to conceive, with the instruction that her son is
to be brought up as a Nazirite.]
v.6-8
On being told, her husband prays
v.6
Then
the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came
to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't
ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.
v.7
But
he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then,
drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything
unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb
until the day of his death.'”
v.8 Then
Manoah prayed to the Lord
: “Pardon your
servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us
come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”
[Notes:
The woman tells her husband what has happened and he appears somewhat
skeptical and asks the Lord for confirmation.]
v.9-15
The Angel comes again and confirms the message
v.9
God
heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while
she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with
her.
v.10
The
woman hurried to tell her husband, “He's here! The man who appeared
to me the other day!”
v.11
Manoah
got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said,
“Are you the man who talked to my wife?” “I
am,” he said.
v.12
So
Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be
the rule that governs the boy's life and work?”
v.13
The
angel of the Lord
answered,
“Your wife must do all that I have told her.
v.14 She
must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink
any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She
must do everything I have commanded her.”
v.15
Manoah
said to the angel of the Lord,
“We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.”
[Notes:
The angel appears again and confirms their son is to be a Nazirite.
The man invites him to stay.]
v.16-21
Manoah at last believes
v.16
The
angel of the Lord
replied, “Even
though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if
you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.”
(Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.)
v.17
Then
Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord,
“What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes
true?”
v.18
He
replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.”
v.19
Then
Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and
sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord.
And the Lord
did an amazing
thing while Manoah and his wife watched:
v.20
As
the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of
the Lord
ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with
their faces to the ground.
v.
21
When
the angel of the Lord
did not show
himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it
was the angel of the Lord.
[Notes:
The angel tells him simply to prepare a burnt offering for the
Lord and when he does the angel went up in the flames and Manoah
believes.]
v.22-25
Samson is born
v.22
“We
are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”
v.23
But
his wife answered, “If the Lord
had meant
to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain
offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now
told us this.”
v.24
The
woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew
and the Lord
blessed him,
v.25
and
the Spirit of the Lord
began to stir him
while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol [on
the border of Dan and Judah].
[Notes:
The man is fearful but his wife reassures him and in time Samson
is born. Samson's origin clearly has the hand of God on it.]