History · Chapter 13 of 21

Judges 13

Israel again does evil and suffers under the Philistines forty years. The angel of the LORD appears to the barren wife of Manoah, promising a son who is to be a Nazarite from the womb and will begin to deliver Israel. Manoah prays for the messenger's return and receives the same instructions. When they offer a sacrifice, the angel ascends in the flame. They fear death, but Samson is born and the LORD blesses him.

What happens in Judges 13

Israel's cycle of sin brings forty years under Philistine rule, this time without even a recorded cry for help; God acts first. The angel of the LORD appears to the unnamed, barren wife of Manoah, announcing she will bear a son who must be a Nazarite to God from the womb, who will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. She tells Manoah, who prays for the man of God to return and teach them. The angel comes again, repeats the instructions, declines their food, and tells them to offer it to the LORD.

When Manoah asks his name, the angel says it is secret. As the flame rises from the altar, the angel ascends in it, and the couple fall on their faces, fearing death for seeing God. Manoah's wife reasons wisely that God would not have received their offering only to kill them. She bears Samson, and the LORD blesses and begins to stir him.

Judges 13 in context

Samson's birth account is unusually detailed, marking him as special. He is the last major judge, and the only one whose birth is announced by God. The Nazarite vow, normally temporary and voluntary, is here lifelong and God-imposed, setting Samson apart for God's purposes from conception.

Notably Israel does not cry out this time; God moves unprompted, and Samson will only begin, not complete, the deliverance from the Philistines.

Main themes of Judges 13

Judges 13 (KJV)

1And 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. 2And 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. 3And 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. 4Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: 5For, 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. 6Then 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: 7But 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. 8Then 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. 9And 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. 10And 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. 11And 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. 12And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? 13And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. 14She 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. 15And 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. 16And 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. 17And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? 18And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? 19So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20For 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. 21But 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. 22And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 23But 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. 24And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Verses to carry from Judges 13

“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.”Judges 13:5

“And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?”Judges 13:18

“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.”Judges 13:20

Reflection

Before Samson could do anything, God had already chosen and set him apart. So it is with grace: God's purposes for us begin before we wake to them, and often before we even ask. Where have you assumed you must first get God's attention, when he has already been moving toward you? His initiative comes before your cry.

A prayer from Judges 13