Judges 13, Birth of a Nazirite

In the cycle of idolatry, slavery, repentance and delivery, we have moved past the reign of Jephthah and on to the most colorful and depressing individual in our collection of judges.

Judges 13: 1-5, A Nazirite child

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. A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. 

"No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."

The Philistines tended to come from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Israel.  The tribe of Dan, at this time, is on the southwestern corner of Canaan, near what is now the Gaza Strip. As the tribe closest to land controlled by the Philistines, Dan will suffer the most under their hand.

The visitation of an angel announces a temporary savior for the Israelites.

The mother is to drink no alcoholic drink and not eat anything unclean.  She is to act like a Nazirite, presumably until his birth.  Her son will follow the Nazirite restrictions, including not cutting his hair. The Nazirite commitment is an sign of being fully committed to YHWH. (The Nazirite commitment is described in Numbers 6. It includes not touching dead bodies.)

Judges 13: 6-9, The angel visits again

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. But he said to me, `You will conceive and give birth to 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 birth until the day of his death.'"

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: "O Lord, I beg you, 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." 

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.

The unnamed mother communicates this angelic visitation to her husband. Her husband, who is named, is surprised and want to see the supernatural messenger. He prays and ask YHWH for another visit, including guidance on how to bring up this future son. When the messenger returns, he returns to the woman.

Judges 13: 10-18, Manoah talks to the messenger

The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"

Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?" 

"I am," he said.

So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?"

The angel of the LORD answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her. 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."

Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you."

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.)

Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"

He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."

This is one of the longest recorded Scripture conversations with an angel. Manoah seems skeptical and wants more information. Following the customs of the time, he invites the angel to eat.  The angel agrees to stay but says he won't eat. When asked his name, the messenger refuses to give it, saying essentially, "It is beyond you." One wonders if this means, "It is unpronounceable to humans" or "You have no clue as to what my name means".

Judges 13: 19-23, The angel ascends in flame

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: 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.

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.

"We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"

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."

A strange and supernatural event! The messenger provides the flash fire for the sacrifice and then disappears in the flame.  Manoah now understands that the messenger is supernatural and is frightened. His reaction, "We will die!" is met by a calm wife who seems to say, "Get a grip. His plans don't work if we die."  Barry Webb, in his commentary on Judges, argues that Manoah is portrayed throughout this chapter as always being a bit slow and behind his wife in understanding the events.

Judges 13: 24-25, The child is born

The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Another judge is born in Israel.  His life will be one of conflict, of great successes and tragic failures.