The Angel Appears to Manoah's Wife
Study note
Israel's sin again brought oppression, this time from the Philistines for forty years. The Philistines were a powerful seafaring people who had settled along the Mediterranean coast. God chose to begin delivering Israel through a special child. The angel of the Lord appeared to the barren wife of a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan. The angel announced she would have a son who must be a Nazirite from birth. A Nazirite vow included three requirements: no wine or alcohol, no cutting of hair, and no contact with dead bodies.
1 Once more the Israelites did evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord put them under Philistine control for forty years. 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 In the town of Zorah, there lived a man named Manoah who belonged to the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have any children. 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 One day the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife. He told her, "I know you have not been able to have children, but that is going to change. You will become pregnant and give birth to a baby boy." 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 here is what you must do: stay away from wine and all alcoholic drinks, and do not eat any food that is not allowed." Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 "You are going to have a son. His hair must never be cut, because from the very day he is born, he will be set apart as a Nazirite for God. He will be the one who starts saving Israel from the Philistines." For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor 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 The woman ran to tell her husband about it. She said, "A man from God came to visit me! He looked incredible, like an angel of God. It was amazing! I never asked him where he was from, and he did not give me his name." 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 "He told me, 'You are going to have a baby boy. Stay away from wine and strong drinks, and do not eat anything unclean. This boy will be set apart as a Nazirite for God from the day he is born all the way to the day he dies.'" 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.
Manoah Meets the Angel
Study note
Manoah prayed for the angel to return and teach them how to raise the child. God answered his prayer, and the angel appeared again to his wife in the field. She ran to get Manoah, who asked the angel for instructions. The angel repeated the same commands: the mother must avoid wine and unclean food, and no razor should touch the boy's head. The angel focused on the mother's obedience during pregnancy as essential to the child's consecration.
8 Manoah talked to God in prayer and said, "Please, Lord, let the man of God come back to us. We need him to teach us how we should raise this child who is going to be born." Then Manoah entreated 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 God listened to Manoah's prayer and sent the angel of God back to the woman again. She was sitting by herself in the field because her husband was not around. 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 The woman jumped up and ran to get her husband. She said, "Quick, come look! The man who came to me before is here again!" 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 Manoah got up right away and followed his wife back to the man. When he reached him, he asked, "Are you the same man who talked to my wife before?" The man answered, "Yes, I am." 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 Manoah asked, "When everything you said happens, how should we raise the boy? What should we do for him?" And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 The Lord's angel told Manoah, "Your wife must follow every rule I gave her." And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
14 "She must stay away from anything that comes from grapevines. She cannot drink wine or any other alcoholic drink. She cannot eat any unclean food. She needs to follow every rule I gave her." 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.
The Angel Ascends in Flame
Study note
Manoah wanted to prepare a meal for the angel, not yet realizing who he was. The angel refused food but said Manoah could offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. When Manoah asked the angel's name, the angel replied that it was beyond understanding. As the flame from the sacrifice rose toward heaven, the angel ascended in the fire before their astonished eyes. Manoah feared they would die for having seen God, but his wife wisely pointed out that God would not have accepted their sacrifice or revealed his plans if he intended to kill them.
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "We would love for you to stay. Let us cook up a young goat for you to eat." 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 The angel of the Lord answered, "Even if I stayed, I would not eat your food. But if you would like to make a burnt offering, go ahead and offer it to the Lord." Manoah had no idea he was talking to the angel of the Lord. 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 Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, "Please, tell us your name so that when your words come true, we can properly honor you." 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 The angel of the Lord said, "Why would you want to know my name? It is beyond anything you could understand." And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
19 Manoah got a young goat and a grain offering and placed them on a rock as a sacrifice to the Lord. Then, there in front of Manoah and his wife, the Lord did something incredible. 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 As the fire from the altar blazed up toward the sky, the angel of the Lord rose up inside the flames. Manoah and his wife watched in shock and dropped to the ground, pressing their faces into the dirt. 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 The angel of the Lord never came back again. At that point, Manoah finally understood that the visitor had been the angel of the Lord all along. 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 Manoah turned to his wife in a panic and said, "We are going to die for sure! We saw God face to face!" And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 But his wife calmed him down. She said, "If the Lord wanted us dead, he would not have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He would not have shown us all these amazing things or told us what he did." 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.
The Birth of Samson
Study note
The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson, which may mean 'sun-like' or 'strong one.' The child grew, and the Lord blessed him. The Spirit of the Lord began to move him while he lived between Zorah and Eshtaol. This was just the beginning of what would become one of the most dramatic and tragic stories in the Bible.
24 Sure enough, the woman had a baby boy and named him Samson. The child grew up, and the Lord poured out his blessings on him. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 The Spirit of the Lord began to stir Samson. He lived at the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.