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Chapter 13

Judges 13

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¹Bvt the children of Israel continued to commit wickednesse in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord deliuerd them into the handes of the Philistims fourtie yeere.

²Then there was a man in Zorah of the familie of the Danites, named Manoah, whose wife was baren, and bare not.

³And the Angel of the Lord appeared vnto the woman, and said vnto her, Beholde nowe, thou art baren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceiue, and beare a sonne.

⁴And nowe therefore beware that thou drinke no wine, nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing.

⁵For loe, thou shalt conceiue and beare a sonne, and no rasor shall come on his head: for the childe shall be a Nazarite vnto God from his birth: and he shall begin to saue Israel out of the handes of the Philistims.

⁶Then the wife came, and tolde her husband, saying, A man of God came vnto me, and the facion of him was like the facion of the Angel of God exceeding feareful, but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name,

⁷But he saide vnto me, Beholde, thou shalt conceiue, and beare a sonne, and nowe thou shalt drinke no wine, nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing: for the childe shalbe a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

⁸Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and saide, I pray thee, my Lord, Let the man of God, whome thou sentest, come againe nowe vnto vs, and teach vs what we shall doe vnto the child when he is borne.

⁹And God heard the voyce of Manoah, and the Angel of God came againe vnto the wife, as she sate in the fielde, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

¹⁰And the wife made haste and ranne, and shewed her husband and sayde vnto him, Behold, the man hath appeared vnto me, that came vnto me to day.

¹¹And Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man, and saide vnto him, Art thou the man that spakest vnto the woman? and he said, Yea.

¹²Then Manoah sayde, Nowe let thy saying come to passe: but howe shall we order the childe and doe vnto him?

¹³And the Angell of the Lord saide vnto Manoah, The woman must beware of all that I said vnto her.

¹⁴She may eate of nothing that commeth of the vinetree: she shall not drinke wine nor strong drinke, nor eate any vncleane thing: let her obserue all that I haue commanded her.

¹⁵Manoah then said vnto the Angell of the Lord, I pray thee, let vs reteine thee, vntill we haue made readie a kid for thee.

¹⁶And the Angel of the Lord said vnto Manoah, Though thou make me abide, I will not eate of thy bread, and if thou wilt make a burnt offring, offer it vnto the Lord: for Manoah knewe not that it was an Angel of the Lord.

¹⁷Againe Manoah said vnto the Angell of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to passe, we may honour thee?

¹⁸And the Angell of the Lord saide vnto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, which is secret?

¹⁹Then Manoah tooke a kid with a meate offering, and offered it vpon a stone vnto the Lord: and the Angell did wonderously, whiles Manoah and his wife looked on.

²⁰For when the flame came vp toward heauen from the altar, the Angel of the Lord ascended vp in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife behelde it, and fell on their faces vnto the grounde.

²¹(So the Angel of the Lord did no more appeare vnto Manoah and his wife.) Then Manoah knewe that it was an Angel of the Lord.

²²And Manoah said vnto his wife, We shall surely dye, because we haue seene God.

²³But his wife saide vnto him, If the Lord woulde kill vs, he woulde not haue receiued a burnt offring, and a meate offring of our hands, neither would he haue shewed vs all these things, nor would now haue tolde vs any such.

²⁴And the wife bare a sonne, and called his name Samson: and the childe grewe, and the Lord blessed him.

²⁵And the Spirite of the Lord beganne to strengthen him in the host of Dan, betweene Zorah, and Eshtaol.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Keil-Delitzsch
Matthew Henry

Introduction

ISRAEL SERVES THE PHILISTINES FORTY YEARS. (Jdg 13:1) the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years--The Israelites were represented (Jdg 10:6-7) as having fallen universally into a state of gross and confirmed idolatry, and in chastisement of this great apostasy, the Lord raised up enemies that harassed them in various quarters, especially the Ammonites and Philistines. The invasions and defeat of the former were narrated in the two chapters immediately preceding this; and now the sacred historian proceeds to describe the inroads of the latter people. The period of Philistine ascendency comprised forty years, reckoning from the time of Elon till the death of Samson.

Verse 2

AN ANGEL APPEARS TO MANOAH'S WIFE. (Jdg 13:2-10) Zorah--a Danite town (Jos 15:33) lying on the common boundary of Judah and Dan, so that it was near the Philistine border.

Verse 3

the angel of the Lord--The messenger of the covenant, the divine personage who made so many remarkable appearances of a similar kind already described.

Verse 5

thou shalt conceive, and bear a son--This predicted child was to be a Nazarite. The mother was, therefore, for the sake of her promised offspring, required to practice the rigid abstinence of the Nazarite law (see on Num 6:2). he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines--a prophecy encouraging to a patriotic man; the terms of it, however, indicated that the period of deliverance was still to be distant.

Verse 6

then Manoah entreated the Lord--On being informed by his wife of the welcome intimation, the husband made it the subject of earnest prayer to God. This is a remarkable instance, indicative of the connection which God has established between prayer and the fulfilment of His promises.

Verse 11

THE ANGEL APPEARS TO MANOAH. (Jdg 13:11-14) Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman?--Manoah's intense desire for the repetition of the angel's visit was prompted not by doubts or anxieties of any kind, but was the fruit of lively faith, and of his great anxiety to follow out the instructions given. Blessed was he who had not seen, yet had believed.

Verse 15

MANOAH'S SACRIFICE. (Jdg 13:15-23) Manoah said unto the angel . . ., I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid--The stranger declined the intended hospitality and intimated that if the meat were to be an offering, it must be presented to the Lord [Jdg 13:6]. Manoah needed this instruction, for his purpose was to offer the prepared viands to him, not as the Lord, but as what he imagined him to be, not even an angel (Jdg 13:16), but a prophet or merely human messenger. It was on this account, and not as rejecting divine honors, that he spoke in this manner to Manoah. The angel's language was exactly similar to that of our Lord (Mat 19:17).

Verse 17

Manoah said unto the angel . . ., What is thy name?--Manoah's request elicited the most unequivocal proofs of the divinity of his supernatural visitor--in his name "secret" (in the Margin, "wonderful"), and in the miraculous flame that betokened the acceptance of the sacrifice.

Verse 24

SAMSON BORN. (Jdg 13:24-25) the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson--The birth of this child of promise, and the report of the important national services he was to render, must, from the first, have made him an object of peculiar interest and careful instruction.

Verse 25

the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times--not, probably, as it moved the prophets, who were charged with an inspired message, but kindling in his youthful bosom a spirit of high and devoted patriotism. Eshtaol--the free city. It, as well as Zorah, stood on the border between Judah and Dan. Next: Judges Chapter 14

Introduction

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 13 This chapter relates the birth of Samson, another of the judges of Israel, which was foretold by an angel to his mother, who told her husband of it, Jdg 13:1 upon whose entreaty the angel appeared again, and related the same to them both, Jdg 13:8 and who was very, respectfully treated by the man, and by the wonderful things he did was known by him to be an angel of the Lord, which greatly surprised him, Jdg 13:15 and the chapter is closed with an account of the birth of Samson, and of his being early endowed with the Spirit of God, Jdg 13:24.

Verse 1

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Committed idolatry, which was the evil they were prone unto, and were frequently guilty of: and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years: which according to Josephus (f) are to be reckoned from the death of the last judge, and the time of Samson's birth; or rather from some time after the death of Jephthah, particularly taking in the two last years of Ibzan, when the Ephraimites having been weakened through the slaughter of them by Jephthah, might encourage the Philistines to break in upon them; from which time to the birth of Samson were twenty years, and twenty more may be allowed before he could begin to deliver Israel out of their hands; so that the oppression lasted forty years. According to others, it began at the same time as the oppression of the Ammonites did, though it lasted longer, Jdg 10:7. (f) Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 5.) c. 8. sect. 1.

Verse 2

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites,.... Of the tribe of Dan, in which tribe Zorah was, and seems to have lain both on the borders of Judah and Dan, Jos 15:33; See Gill on Jos 15:33; see Gill on Jos 19:41, and this man was not a mean man, but of rank and figure, a principal man in the country, according to Josephus (g); though the Talmudists (h) say he was a plebeian: whose name was Manoah; which signifies "rest", and has much the same signification as Noah; and by this name he was well known in those times, and among his people: and his wife was barren, and bare not; had no child, as the Targum; and it is observed by many, that several eminent persons were born of women that had been barren, as Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, and John the Baptist; and it is remarkable, that the strongest man that ever was born of such a woman, as the following account relates. The name of this woman, the mother of Samson, is said (i) to be Zalalponith; see Ch1 4:3. (g) Antique. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 2. (h) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 61. 1. (i) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 91. 1. Juchasin, fol. 10. 8.

Verse 3

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman,.... According to Josephus (k), it was in a plain without the city; and that he appeared in the form of a man is certain from Jdg 13:6 but was not a mere man, a prophet of the Lord, nor a created angel, but the uncreated one, the Angel of the covenant, the Son and Word of God, who often appeared in an human form; since his name is said to be "Wonderful", and he to do wonderful things, and is called "Jehovah", Jdg 13:18, and said unto her, behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; barren at that time, and so she had been ever since she was married to that time; and this is observed, that it might appear the more wonderful that she should after this have a child: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; which to do, must be ascribed to divine power, that one in her circumstances should bear a son; as the prediction of it was owing to divine omniscience, and a proof of it. (k) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 2.

Verse 4

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink,.... Any liquor inebriating and intoxicating, neither new wine nor old wine, as the Targum, and so Jarchi; the reason of this appears in the next verse, because the child she should conceive and bear was to be a Nazarite, and to be one from his mother's womb; and from all such liquors, Nazarites, according to the law, were to abstain, Num 6:3. and eat not any unclean thing; meaning not so much such sort of food as was forbidden by the law to be eaten, which every Israelite was to abstain from, but such as were particularly forbidden to Nazarites, as moist and dried grapes, or anything made of the vine tree, from the kernel to the husk, Num 6:3. The reason of this is, because the child in the womb is nourished with the same the mother is; and as this child was to be a Nazarite from the womb, and even in it, his mother was to abstain both from eatables and drinkables forbidden a Nazarite by the law.

Verse 5

For, lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son,.... Which is not only repeated for the confirmation of it, but that she might take notice that he was to be a Nazarite, and therefore must conform to everything agreeable to the law of the Nazarites, and take care that it was observed in him: and no razor shall come on his head; to cut off the hair of it, not from the time of his birth to his death; for he was to be a perpetual Nazarite: other Nazarites during the time of their Nazariteship were not to suffer a razor to come upon them, but afterwards might; but for such an one as Samson, it was not lawful ever to suffer his hair to be cut off; see Num 6:5. for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; in which he was a type of Christ, who was sanctified by the Lord, separated from sinners, and called a "Nazarene": was born of a virgin, as Samson was of a barren woman, and his birth foretold by an angel as this: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines; for the salvation he wrought for Israel was not complete and perfect; it was only begun by him, and carried on in the times of Eli, Samuel, and Saul, and perfected by David. In this his antitype exceeds him, who is the author of the complete salvation of his people out of the hands of all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world; though in this there is a great resemblance between Samson and our Lord Jesus, in that what he did he did himself alone; not at the head of an army, and with forces under him, as other judges; so Christ with his own arm, and of himself, and without others, wrought salvation for his people; see Isa 63:5.

Verse 6

Then the woman came and told her husband,.... To whom it would be joyful news, as it was to her: saying, a man of God came unto me; he appeared in an human form, and therefore she calls him a man; and by his mien and deportment, and the message he brought, she concluded he was a man of God, that is, a prophet; by which name such persons went in those days; and so the Targum calls him a prophet of the Lord: but it is a mere conceit of Ben Gersom that it was Phinehas, who in all probability was not living; besides what is after related shows that this was a divine Person, and no other than the Son of God: and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible; for though she might never have seen an angel, yet it being a common notion that angels were very illustrious, of a beautiful form and of a shining countenance, and very majestic, she compares the man she saw to one; for by being "very terrible", is not meant that he was frightful, and struck her with horror, but venerable and majestic, which filled her with admiration: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name; this she added to prevent her husband's inquiring about his name and place of abode; and perhaps, as she came along, she reflected on herself that she did not ask those questions; which might be owing to the surprise she was in, partly at the awful and venerable appearance of the person, and partly at the joyful news he brought her; though it seems as if she did ask his name, but he did not tell her what it was.

Verse 7

But he said unto me, behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son,.... She says nothing of her barrenness, which the angel took notice of to her, that having been to her reproach: and now drink no wine nor strong drink; neither new wine nor old wine; so the Targum as before: neither eat any unclean thing; which was so in a ceremonial sense; otherwise every creature of God is good, and not to be called common or unclean; it here respects what was forbidden Nazarites to eat; see Jdg 13:4. for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; it is here added, what is not before expressed: unto his death; for he was to be a perpetual Nazarite; some were only Nazarites for a time, for so many days or months, according to their vow; but this son was to be a Nazarite all his days, by the appointment of God; nor is it any objection to what is here said, that his hair was cut off before his death, which caused his Nazariteship to cease; since these words are not a prophecy, but a precept; and besides, that affair happened but a little before his death, he died quickly afterwards.

Verse 8

Then Manoah entreated the Lord,.... Josephus (l) makes the woman to entreat the Lord; but the text is clear for it that it was Manoah that prayed: and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send unto us; he believed that the man that came to his wife was a man of God, and that he was of his sending; nor was he incredulous of the message he brought, as appears by what follows: and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born; he believed there would be a child born, and he knew what was to be done to a Nazarite in common, according to the law of God respecting such, and the angel had mentioned somewhat to the woman; yet this being an extraordinary case, a Nazarite from his birth to his death, he was desirous of knowing what was further to be done; or if there was any thing more special and particular to be observed concerning him; which showed his readiness and cheerfulness to obey the will of God in all things. (l) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8.) sect. 3.

Verse 9

And God hearkened unto the voice of Manoah,.... Heard his prayer and answered it: and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field; who very likely returned to the same place where she was before, in hope her husband's prayers would be heard, and the man return and come to her where he had before met her; as well as she might be here retired for meditation and prayer; unless it can be supposed that she had business here to do, as keeping a flock of sheep, which women, and those great personages too, were wont to do in those times and countries, as Rebekah the sister of Laban, and the daughters of Jethro, prince of Midian: but Manoah her husband was not with her; the angel appeared to the woman again, because she would know him to be the same; whereas had he appeared to Manoah, especially alone, he could not have known whether he was the same or not. This clause is observed for the sake of what follows.

Verse 10

And the woman made haste, and ran,.... It is not improbable what Josephus says (m), that she entreated the angel to stay a little till she fetched her husband, which he assented to, and then made all the haste she could to him, partly through eagerness to acquaint him with it, and partly that she might not make the prophet she took him to be wait too long: and showed her husband; that his prayer was heard: and said unto him, behold, the man hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day; or, as the Targum, "this day"; so Kimchi and Ben Melech; for the word "other" is not in the text. It is very probable it was the same day he came again he had appeared to her; perhaps it was in the former part of the day he first came to her, when she went home to her husband, and acquainted him with it, who prayed to the Lord that he might be sent again; and then she returned to her place in the field, and in the latter part of the day the angel appeared again. (m) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 3.

Verse 11

And Manoah arose and went after his wife,.... As soon as she had delivered the above, she made all the haste she could to the man again, lest he should think her too long, and depart; and it was proper enough she should go first, to direct her husband where the man was; Jarchi interprets it, after her counsel and advice: and came to the man, and said unto him, art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? meaning his wife then present: and he said, I am; the very same person; for though he was not a man, yet appearing in an human form was taken for one; and therefore makes answer according to the supposition of him, and was the selfsame person, and in the same form he had appeared before.

Verse 12

And Manoah said, now let thy words come to pass,.... Which was not only a wish that they might, but a prayer of faith that they would come pass: how shall we order the child? and how shall we do unto him? he believed a child would be born, and as he was to be a Nazarite, he knew what were the rules and orders to be observed concerning one in common; but as he was to be an extraordinary one, he was desirous of knowing what particular laws and rules were to be observed with respect to him, or what more was to be done to him than to another: the words may be rendered, as in the margin of our Bibles, "what shall be the judgment of the child, and his work?" and seems to relate not to what should be done to it, but what that should do; for being an extraordinary Nazarite, he supposed that some extraordinary work would be done by him, and he was curious to know it; and so Abarbinel interprets it of his request to know things future and wonderful, that should be done after the child was grown up; but this the angel chose not to inform him of, since it might have been prejudicial to them, should the Philistines get knowledge that this child would be a judge and saviour of Israel, and do such and such things to them as he did, they would have sought to have slain his wife while she bare him, or the child when born; and it may be observed, that though the angel told the woman at first, that he should "begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines", Jdg 13:5, yet she said nothing of it to her husband, nor did the angel repeat it.

Verse 13

And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah,.... Giving him no direct answer to his question, either what should be done to the child, or what that should do; only reminds of and repeats what he had said to his wife, which she should be careful to observe and would, and that was enough for him to know: of all that I said to the woman, let her beware; take to abstain from everything in eating and drinking during the time of her going with child, he had joined, which are particularly repeated in the next verse.

Verse 14

She may not eat of anything that cometh from the vine,.... Grapes moist or dried, kernels, or husks, or anything made of them: neither let her drink wine, or strong drink; as she was to be careful to abstain from such liquors, so her husband also is enjoined not to suffer her to drink any: nor eat any unclean thing; which was so by the law of Moses, and particularly by the law of the Nazarites: all that I commanded her, let her observe; both with respect to herself and the child.

Verse 15

And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord,.... Being satisfied with what he had said, and perceiving that he chose to say no more, and was about to depart: I pray thee let me detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee; to eat a meal with them, in token of gratitude for the trouble he had been at in bringing these messages to them, taking him to be a man, a prophet of the Lord, for whom they were wont to make entertainments; and Abarbinel thinks Manoah proposed this, on purpose to detain him, in hope that while they were eating together he would reveal some secrets unto him.

Verse 16

And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah,.... In answer to his request: though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; that is, should he be prevailed upon to stay awhile with him, until an entertainment should be got ready, he would not eat of any of his provisions; for "bread" is put for all eatables, or whatsoever he might provide for the entertainment: and if, or "but if" (n). thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord; if he meant to provide not a festival entertainment, but a sacrifice, then he should take care that he did not offer it to strange gods, as was now very much the custom with Israel in this their time of apostasy, Jdg 13:1 but to the true Jehovah, and not to a servant of his, a prophet or an angel, but to himself: for Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord; he took him to be a man, a prophet sent of God, and not an angel; and much less the uncreated one, to whom as such only the sacrifice could be offered. (n) "si autem", V. L. "quod si", Tigurine version; "sin autem", Junius & Tremellius; "si vero", Piscator.

Verse 17

And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, what is thy name,.... Who art thou, and by what name art thou called? for since he could not prevail upon him to stay and eat a meal with him, he desired to know his name, and where he lived, that when he heard his name mentioned he might speak well of him, or send to him upon occasion; or if any message was sent from him, as Jarchi suggests, that he might show a respect to him, and observe it: and particularly: that when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honour? say that such a prophet, whose name is such, and lives in such a place, foretold these things; or that they might send him a present, in gratitude for, and as a reward of his service and trouble; so the reward of a labourer, and the maintenance of a Gospel minister, is called "honour", Ti1 5:17 and thus Josephus (o) understood it, that they might give him thanks, and send him a present. (o) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 3.

Verse 18

And the angel of the Lord said unto him,.... Being so importunate, and pressing upon him: why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? and not to be known; as his nature and essence as a divine Person, which may be meant by his name, is what passes knowledge, is infinite and incomprehensible; see Pro 30:4 or "wonderful" (p); which is one of the names of Christ, and fitly agrees with him, who is wonderful in his person, as God and man; in his incarnation, in his offices and relations, in his love to his people, and in all he is unto them, and has done for them; See Gill on Isa 9:6. (p) Sept. "mirabile", V. L. Montanus; "mirificus", Junius & Tremellius.

Verse 19

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering,.... The kid which he proposed to make an entertainment with, for the man of God, he took him to be, he fetched and brought for a burnt offering, at the hint which the angel had given him, and joined to it a meat offering, as was usual whenever burnt offerings were made; see Num 15:3, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord; for though Manoah was not a priest, nor was this a proper place for sacrifice; high places were now forbidden, and only at the tabernacle in Shiloh were offerings to be brought; yet all this was dispensed with, and Manoah was justified in what he did by the warrant of the angel, Jdg 13:16. The rock was probably near the place where this meeting of Manoah and his wife with the angel was, and where the discourse between them passed; and which served instead of an altar, and on which Manoah sacrificed, not to idols, but to the true Jehovah, as the angel directed: and the angel did wondrously; agreeably to his name, which was "Wonderful", Jdg 13:18 or "he, Jehovah, did wondrously" for this angel was no other than Jehovah the Son. The instance in which he did wondrously was, as Kimchi observes, by bringing fire out of the rock, which consumed the flesh of the kid, and the meat offering; and so Josephus (q) says, that he touched the flesh with a rod he had, and fire sparkled out, and consumed it with the bread, or meat offering; just in the same manner as the angel did with the kid and cakes that Gideon brought, Jdg 6:21. and Manoah and his wife looked on; to see either fire come down from heaven, or spring up out of the rock, which consumed the sacrifice, and showed the Lord's acceptance of it, and also the angel's ascending in it, as follows. (q) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 3.)

Verse 20

For it came to pass, when the flame went up towards heaven from off the altar,.... That is, from the rock, which served instead of an altar, and from whence perhaps the fire sprung which consumed both the burnt offering and the meat offering, the flame of which went up to heaven; this rock or altar having no covering, but was "sub dio", open to the heavens: that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar; making use of the smoke, as Josephus (r) says, as a vehicle in which he openly went up to heaven: and Manoah and his wife looked on it; on the flame and smoke, and the angel in it as he ascended; just as the disciples of Christ looked steadfastly on him as he went up to heaven, when a cloud received him out of their sight, Act 1:9. and fell on their faces to the ground; with astonishment and surprise at what they saw, through fear and reverence of the divine Being, of whose presence they were now sensible, and as worshipping of him, and praying to him. (r) Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 3.)

Verse 21

But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife,.... As the flame and smoke ascended, he disappeared therewith, and was seen no more: then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord; by the wondrous things he did, causing fire to come down from heaven, or out of the rock, ascending in the midst of the flame, without being hurt by it, and going up to heaven in it.

Verse 22

And Manoah said unto his wife,.... Being risen from the ground, where they fell on their faces: we shall surely die, because we have seen God; by which it appears that he not only believed him to be an angel, and not a man, but a divine Person; for though angels are sometimes called "Elohim", the word here used, yet good men were not wont to fear death, or conclude they should die on sight of an angel; but their notion was, that an appearance of God to them was death, and were surprised when it did not follow, Gen 32:30.

Verse 23

But his wife said unto him,.... Who was less fearful, and the strongest believer of the two, seeing her husband so very much intimidated, endeavoured to comfort and strengthen him by the three following arguments: if the Lord was pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands; for it was at the direction of this illustrious Person that they offered these offerings, and who testified the divine acceptance of them, by causing fire in an extraordinary manner to consume them, which was always reckoned a token of God's acceptance of them; and besides, the angel went up in the flame, as being well pleased with them, and, as it were, carrying up the sacrifice to heaven with him, as a sweetsmelling savour to God. Here the angel is called Jehovah by the woman, and shows this was the uncreated angel: neither would he have showed us all these things; which they saw as the appearance of a divine Person to them in an human form, the consuming of the sacrifice by fire in so strange a manner, and the ascent of the angel heavenwards in the flame of it: nor would, as at this time, have told us such things as these; as that they should have a son; how the woman was to manage herself, while with child of him; and how when born he was to be brought up, and what things God would do by him, and begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Now all this would not have been told at such a time of distress, as the nation was now in, but to comfort them, or he would never have told them of a son to be born of them, if they were to be destroyed immediately. So an enlightened soul may reason from the sight and sense he has had of his sinful, lost, and undone state by nature; from the revelation of Christ to him as the only way of salvation; from the views he has had of the glories of his person, and the riches of his grace; and from that communion with God he has sometimes enjoyed; from all this he may reason, that if God had a design to damn him for his sins, he would never have made such discoveries of love, grace, and mercy to him; as well as from the sacrifice of Christ, God has provided and accepted of, on the foot of which justice is engaged to save; and besides, grace and glory are inseparable.

Verse 24

And the woman bare a son, and called name Samson,.... After these appearances were over, Manoah and his wife returned to their habitation, and she soon became pregnant, and at the usual course of time brought forth a son, and she gave him the name of Samson; for what reason it is not easy to determine. Josephus says (s) the word signifies "strong"; perhaps he was born a strong robust child, which is not unlikely, or the woman might have some prophetic hint of his future strength, and so gave him this name; but the word has not the signification of strength in it; it rather signifies the sun, which is indeed a strong body, and is compared to a strong man running his race, and so a strong man may be compared to that; but rather, with respect to the sun, this name might be given him, because of the splendour of his countenance with which he might be born, or in memory of the shining countenance of the angel which brought the tidings of his birth, or because he was to be the instrument of dispelling the darkness of calamity and distress Israel were now in: but the word more properly signifies a minister or servant, from whence the sun has its name; for Samson was to be, and was, a minister and servant of God, and of his people Israel. There is an agreement between the type and the antitype in this name in either sense. Christ is the mighty God, and mighty Saviour, the sun of righteousness, the light of the world, and the deliverer of his people from darkness of calamity and distress; and who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and perform the great service of redemption and salvation: and the child grew in bodily strength and stature, and grew up to man's estate, Luk 2:40. and the Lord blessed him; not only with extraordinary strength of body, but with great endowments of mind, with the Spirit and graces of the Spirit; with grace, and blessings of it, and with his gracious presence; with this compare Psa 21:3. (s) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8.) sect. 4.

Verse 25

And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan,.... To go out into it, in order to be trained up in and inured to military exercises; or it began to "strike" his mind, inject thoughts into it, and impress it with them concerning doing great things for the people of God in time to come; and for the present put him upon doing strange and wonderful exploits, which were omens of what was to be done by him hereafter; and these were done by him now and then, not always, but as the Spirit of God came upon him, under the impulse of which he did them, and by the strength he gave him; so the Targum,"and the Spirit of strength from the Lord began to strengthen him.''This camp of Dan was either a camp formed in that tribe, to prevent the incursions of the Philistines; or rather, since it does not seem that Israel had strength enough to resist them, they having got the power over them, this was the name of a place called Mahanehdan near Kirjathjearim, from the Danites encamping in it, when they went to besiege Laish, Jdg 18:11 for the fact was done before this time, though related afterwards: between Zorah and Eshtaol; which were two cities in the tribe of Dan, and upon the borders of the tribe of Judah; of which see Jos 15:33. It may be observed, that as the tribe of Dan lay near to the Philistines, and so liable to their ravages, and might be most oppressed by them, so a deliverer of Israel was raised up in this tribe. Next: Judges Chapter 14

Introduction

Samson's Life, and Conflicts with the Philistines - Judges 13-16 Whilst Jephthah, in the power of God, was delivering the tribes on the east of the Jordan from the oppression of the Ammonites, the oppression on the part of the Philistines continued uninterruptedly for forty years in the land to the west of the Jordan (Jdg 13:1), and probably increased more and more after the disastrous war during the closing years of the high-priesthood of Eli, in which the Israelites suffered a sad defeat, and even lost the ark of the covenant, which was taken by the Philistines (1 Sam 4). But even during this period, Jehovah the God of Israel did not leave himself without witness, either in the case of His enemies the Philistines, or in that of His people Israel. The triumphant delight of the Philistines at the capture of the ark was soon changed into great and mortal terror, when Dagon their idol had fallen down from its place before the ark of God and was lying upon the threshold of its temple with broken head and arms; and the inhabitants of Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron, to which the ark was taken, were so severely smitten with boils by the hand of Jehovah, that the princes of the Philistines felt constrained to send the ark, which brought nothing but harm to their people, back into the land of the Israelites, and with it a trespass-offering (1 Sam 5-6). At this time the Lord had also raised up a hero for His people in the person of Samson, whose deeds were to prove to the Israelites and Philistines that the God of Israel still possessed the power to help His people and smite His foes. The life and acts of Samson, who was to begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines, and who judged Israel for twenty years under the rule of the Philistines (Jdg 13:5 and Jdg 15:20), are described in Judg 13-16 with an elaborate fulness which seems quite out of proportion to the help and deliverance which he brought to his people. His birth was foretold to his parents by an appearance of the angel of the Lord, and the boy was set apart as a Nazarite from his mother's womb. When he had grown up, the Spirit of Jehovah began to drive him to seek occasions for showing the Philistines his marvellous strength, and to inflict severe blows upon them in a series of wonderful feats, until at length he was seduced by the bewitching Delilah to make known to her the secret of his supernatural strength, and was betrayed by her into the power of the Philistines, who deprived him of the sight of his eyes, and compelled him to perform the hardest and most degraded kinds of slave-labour. From this he was only able to escape by bringing about his own death, which he did in such a manner that his enemies were unable to triumph over him, since he killed more of them at his death than he had killed during the whole of his life before. And whilst the small results that followed from the acts of this hero of God do not answer the expectations that might naturally be formed from the miraculous announcement of his birth, the nature of the acts which he performed appears still less to be such as we should expect from a hero impelled by the Spirit of God. His actions not only bear the stamp of adventure, foolhardiness, and wilfulness, when looked at outwardly, but they are almost all associated with love affairs; so that it looks as if Samson had dishonoured and fooled away the gift entrusted to him, by making it subservient to his sensual lusts, and thus had prepared the way for his own ruin, without bringing any essential help to his people. "The man who carried the gates of Gaza up to the top of the mountain was the slave of a woman, to whom he frivolously betrayed the strength of his Nazarite locks. These locks grew once more, and his strength returned, but only to bring death at the same time to himself and his foes" (Ziegler). Are we to discern in such a character as this a warrior of the Lord? Can Samson, the promised son of a barren woman, a Nazarite from his birth, be the head and flower of the Judges? We do not pretend to answer these questions in the affirmative; and to justify this view we start from the fact, which Ewald and Diestel both admit to be historical, that the deep earnest background of Samson's nature is to be sought for in his Nazarite condition, or rather that it is in this that the distinctive significance of his character and of his life and deeds as judge all culminates. The Nazarite was not indeed what Bertheau supposes him to have been, "a man separated from human pursuits and turmoil;" but the significance of the Nazarite condition was to be found in a consecration of the life to God, which had its roots in living faith, and its outward manifestations negatively, in abstinence from everything unclean, from drinking wine, and even from fruit of the vine of every description, and positively, in wearing the hair uncut. In the case of Samson this consecration of the life to God was not an act of his own free will, or a vow voluntarily taken; but it was imposed upon him by divine command from his conception and birth. As a Nazarite, i.e., as a person vowed to the Lord, he was to begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines; and the bodily sign of his Nazarite condition, - namely, the hair of his head that had never been touched by the scissors, - was the vehicle of his supernatural strength with which he smote the Philistines. In Samson the Nazarite, however, not only did the Lord design to set before His people a man towering above the fallen generation in heroic strength, through his firm faith in and confident reliance upon the gift of God committed to him, opening up before it the prospect of a renewal of its own strength, that by this type he might arouse such strength and ability as were still slumbering in the nation; but Samson was to exhibit to his age generally a picture on the one hand of the strength which the people of God might acquire to overcome their strongest foes through faithful submission to the Lord their God, and on the other hand of the weakness into which they had sunk through unfaithfulness to the covenant and intercourse with the heathen. And it is in this typical character of Samson and his deeds that we find the head and flower of the institution of judge in Israel. The judges whom Jehovah raised up in the interval between Joshua and Samuel were neither military commanders nor governors of the nation; nor were they authorities instituted by God and invested with the government of the state. They were not even chosen from the heads of the nation, but were called by the Lord out of the midst of their brethren to be the deliverers of the nation, either through His Spirit which came upon them, or through prophets and extraordinary manifestations of God; and the influence which they exerted, after the conquest and humiliation of the foe and up to the time of their death, upon the government of the nation and its affairs in general, was not the result of any official rank, but simply the fruit and consequence of their personal ability, and therefore extended for the most part only to those tribes to whom they had brought deliverance from the oppression of their foes. The tribes of Israel did not want any common secular ruler to fulfil the task that devolved upon the nation at that time. God therefore raised up even the judges only in times of distress and trouble. For their appearance and work were simply intended to manifest the power which the Lord could confer upon His people through His spirit, and were designed, on the one hand, to encourage Israel to turn seriously to its God, and by holding fast to His covenant to obtain the power to conquer all its foes; and, on the other hand, to alarm their enemies, that they might not attribute to their idols the power which they possessed to subjugate the Israelites, but might learn to fear the omnipotence of the true God. This divine power which was displayed by the judges culminated in Samson. When the Spirit of God came upon him, he performed such mighty deeds as made the haughty Philistines feel the omnipotence of Jehovah. And this power he possessed by virtue of his condition as a Nazarite, because he had been vowed or dedicated to the Lord from his mother's womb, so long as he remained faithful to the vow that had been imposed upon him. But just as his strength depended upon the faithful observance of his vow, so his weakness became apparent in his natural character, particularly in his intrigues with the daughters of the Philistines; and in this weakness there was reflected the natural character of the nation generally, and of its constant disposition to fraternize with the heathen. Love to a Philistine woman in Timnath not only supplied Samson with the first occasion to exhibit his heroic strength to the Philistines, but involved him in a series of conflicts in which he inflicted severe blows upon the uncircumcised. This impulse to fight against the Philistines came from Jehovah (Jdg 14:4), and in these conflicts Jehovah assisted him with the power of His Spirit, and even opened up a fountain of water for him at Lehi in the midst of his severe fight, for the purpose of reviving his exhausted strength (Jdg 15:19). On the other hand, in his intercourse with the harlot at Gaza, and his love affair with Delilah, he trod ways of the flesh which led to his ruin. In his destruction, which was brought about by his forfeiture of the pledge of the divine gift entrusted to him, the insufficiency of the judgeship in itself to procure for the people of God supremacy over their foes became fully manifest; so that the weakness of the judgeship culminated in Samson as well as its strength. The power of the Spirit of God, bestowed upon the judges for the deliverance of their people, was overpowered by the might of the flesh lusting against the spirit. This special call received from God will explain the peculiarities observable in the acts which he performed, - not only the smallness of the outward results of his heroic acts, but the character of adventurous boldness by which they were distinguished. Although he had been set apart as a Nazarite from his mother's womb, he as not to complete the deliverance of his people from the hands of the Philistines, but simply to commence, it, i.e., to show to the people, by the manifestation of supernatural heroic power, the possibility of deliverance, or to exhibit the strength with which a man could slay a thousand foes. To answer this purpose, it was necessary that the acts of Samson should differ from those of the judges who fought at the head of military forces, and should exhibit the stamp of confidence and boldness in the full consciousness of possession divine and invincible power. But whilst the spirit which prevailed in Israel during the time of the judges culminated in the nature and deeds of Samson both in its weakness and strength, the miraculous character of his deeds, regarded simply in themselves, affords no ground for pronouncing the account a mere legend which has transformed historical acts into miracles, except from a naturalistic point of view, which rejects all miracles, and therefore denies a priori the supernatural working of the living God in the midst of His people. The formal character of the whole of the history of Samson, which the opponents of the biblical revelation adduce for the further support of this view, does not yield any tenable evidence of its correctness. The external rounding off of the account proves nothing more than that Samson's life and acts formed in themselves a compact and well-rounded whole. But the assertion, that "well-rounded circumstances form a suitable framework for the separate accounts, and that precisely twelve acts are related of Samson, which are united into beautiful pictures and narrated in artistic order" (Bertheau), is at variance with the actual character of the biblical account. In order to get exactly twelve heroic acts, Bertheau has to fix the stamp of a heroic act performed by Samson himself upon the miraculous help which he received from God through the opening up of a spring of water (Jdg 15:18-19), and also to split up a closely connected event, such as his breaking the bonds three times, into three different actions. (Note: On these grounds, L. Diestel, in the article Samson in Herzog's Cycl., has rejected Bertheau's enumeration as unsatisfactory; and also the division proposed by Ewald into five acts with three turns in each, because, in order to arrive at this grouping, Ewald is not only obliged to refer the general statement in Jdg 13:25, "the Spirit of God began to drive Samson," to some heroic deed which is not described, but has also to assume that in the case of one act (the carrying away of the gates at Gaza) the last two steps of the legend are omitted from the present account, although in all the rest Diestel follows Ewald's view almost without exception. The views advanced by Ewald and Bertheau form the foundation of Roskoff's Monograph, "the legend of Samson in its origin, form, and signification, and the legend of Hercules,"in which the legend of Samson is regarded as an Israelitish form of that of Hercules.) If we simply confine ourselves to the biblical account, the acts of Samson may be divided into two parts. The first (Judg 14 and 15) contains those in which Samson smote the Philistines with gradually increasing severity; the second (Judg 16) those by which he brought about his own fall and ruin. These are separated from one another by the account of the time that his judgeship lasted (Jdg 15:20), and this account is briefly repeated at the close of the whole account (Jdg 16:31). The first part includes six distinct acts which are grouped together in twos: viz., (1 and 2) the killing of the lion on the way to Timnath, and the slaughter of the thirty Philistines for the purpose of paying for the solution of his riddle with the clothes that he took off them (Judg 14); (3 and 4) his revenge upon the Philistines by burning their crops, because his wife had been given to a Philistine, and also by the great slaughter with which he punished them for having burned his father-in-law and wife (Jdg 15:1-8); (5 and 6) the bursting of the cords with which his countrymen had bound him for the purpose of delivering him up to the Philistines, and the slaying of 1000 Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass (Jdg 15:9-19). The second part of his life comprises only three acts: viz., (1) taking off the town gates of Gaza, and carrying them away (Jdg 16:1-3); (2) breaking the bonds with which Delilah bound him three separate times (Jdg 16:4-14); and (3) his heroic death through pulling down the temple of Dagon, after he had been delivered into the power of the Philistines through the treachery of Delilah, and had been blinded by them (Judg 16:15-31). In this arrangement there is no such artistic shaping or rounding off of the historical materials apparent, as could indicate any mythological decoration. And lastly, the popular language of Samson in proverbs, rhymes, and a play upon words, does not warrant us in maintaining that the popular legend invented this mode of expressing his thoughts, and put the words into his mouth. All this leads to the conclusion, that there is no good ground for calling in question the historical character of the whole account of Samson's life and deeds. (Note: No safe or even probable conjecture can be drawn from the character of the history before us, with reference to the first written record of the life of Samson, or the sources which the author of our book of Judges made use of for this portion of his work. The recurrence of such expressions as יחל followed by an infinitive (Jdg 13:5, Jdg 13:25; Jdg 16:19, Jdg 16:22), פּתּי (Jdg 14:15; Jdg 16:5), הציק (Jdg 14:17; Jdg 16:16, etc.), upon which Bertheau lays such stress, arises from the actual contents of the narrative itself. The same expressions also occur in other places where the thought requires them, and therefore they form no such peculiarities of style as to warrant the conclusion that the life of Samson was the subject of a separate work (Ewald), or that it was a fragment taken from a larger history of the wars of the Philistines (Bertheau).)

Verse 1

Birth of Samson. - Jdg 13:1. The oppression of the Israelites by the Philistines, which is briefly hinted at in Jdg 10:7, is noticed again here with the standing formula, "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord," etc. (cf. Jdg 10:6; Jdg 4:1; Jdg 3:12), as an introduction to the account of the life and acts of Samson, who began to deliver Israel from the hands of these enemies. Not only the birth of Samson, but the prediction of his birth, also fell, according to Jdg 13:5, within the period of the rule of the Philistines over Israel. Now, as their oppression lasted forty years, and Samson judged Israel for twenty years during that oppression (Jdg 15:20; Jdg 16:31), he must have commenced his judgeship at an early age, probably before the completion of his twentieth year; and with this the statement in Judg 14, that his marriage with a Philistine woman furnished the occasion for his conflicts with these enemies of his people, fully agrees. The end of the forty years of the supremacy of the Philistines is not given in this book, which closes with the death of Samson. It did not terminate till the great victory which the Israelites gained over their enemies under the command of Samuel (1 Sam 7). Twenty years before this victory the Philistines had sent back the ark which they had taken from the Israelites, after keeping it for seven months in their own land (Sa1 7:2, and Sa1 6:1). It was within these twenty years that most of the acts of Samson occurred. His first affair with the Philistines, however, namely on the occasion of his marriage, took place a year or two before this defeat of the Israelites, in which the sons of Eli were slain, the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines, and the high priest Eli fell from his seat and broke his neck on receiving the terrible news (Sa1 4:18). Consequently Eli died a short time after the first appearance of Samson.

Verse 2

Whilst the Israelites were given into the hands of the Philistines on account of their sins, and were also severely oppressed in Gilead on the part of the Ammonites, the angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, a Danite from Zorea, i.e., Sur'a, on the western slope of the mountains of Judah (see at Jos 15:33). Mishpachath Dani (the family of the Danites) is used interchangeably with shebet Dani (the tribe of the Danites: see Jdg 18:2, Jdg 18:11, and Jdg 18:1, Jdg 18:30), which may be explained on this ground, that according to Num 26:42-43, all the Danites formed but one family, viz., the family of the Shuhamites. The angel of the Lord announced to this woman, who was barren, "Thou wilt conceive and bear a son. And now beware, drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean: for, behold, thou wilt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head; for a vowed man of God (Nazir) will the boy be from his mother's womb," i.e., his whole life long, "to the day of his death," as the angel expressly affirmed, according to Jdg 13:7. The three prohibitions which the angel of the Lord imposed upon the woman were the three things which distinguished the condition of a Nazarite (see at Num 6:1-8, and the explanation given there of the Nazarite vow). The only other thing mentioned in the Mosaic law is the warning against defilement from contact with the dead, which does not seem to have been enforced in the case of Samson. When the angel added still further, "And he (the Nazarite) will begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines," he no doubt intended to show that his power to effect this deliverance would be closely connected with his condition as a Nazarite. The promised son was to be a Nazarite all his life long, because he was to begin to deliver Israel out of the power of his foes. And in order that he might be so, his mother was to share in the renunciations of the Nazarite vow during the time of her pregnancy. Whilst the appearance of the angel of the Lord contained the practical pledge that the Lord still acknowledged His people, though He had given them into the hands of their enemies; the message of the angel contained this lesson and warning for Israel, that it could only obtain deliverance from its foes by seeking after a life of consecration to the Lord, such as the Nazarites pursued, so as to realize the idea of the priestly character to which Israel had been called as the people of Jehovah, by abstinence from the deliciae carnis, and everything that was unclean, as being emanations of sin, and also by a complete self-surrender to the Lord (see Pentateuch, p. 674).

Verse 6

The woman told her husband of this appearance: "A man of God," she said (lit., the man of God, viz., the one just referred to), "came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name," etc. "Man of God" was the expression used to denote a prophet, or a man who stood in immediate intercourse with God, such as Moses and others (see at Deu 33:1). "Angel of God" is equivalent to "angel of the Lord" (Jdg 2:1; Jdg 6:11), the angel in whom the invisible God reveals himself to men. The woman therefore imagined the person who appeared to her to have been a prophet, whose majestic appearance, however, had produced the impression that he was a superior being; consequently she had not ventured to ask him either his name or where he came from.

Verse 8

Being firmly convinced of the truth of this announcement, and at the same time reflecting upon the obligation which it imposed upon the parents, Manoah prayed to the Lord that He would let the man of God whom He had sent come to them again, to teach them what they were to do to the boy that should be born, i.e., how they should treat him. היּוּלד, according to the Keri היּלּד, is a participle Pual with the מ dropped (see Ewald, 169, b.). This prayer was heard. The angel of God appeared once more to the woman when she was sitting alone in the field without her husband.

Verse 10

Then she hastened to fetch her husband, who first of all inquired of the person who had appeared, "Art thou the man who said to the woman" (sc., what has been related in Jdg 13:3-5)? And when this was answered in the affirmative, he said still further (Jdg 13:12), "Should thy word then come to pass, what will be the manner of the boy, and his doing?" The plural דּבריך is construed ad sensum with the singular verb, because the words form one promise, so that the expression is not to be taken distributively, as Rosenmller supposes. This also applies to Jdg 13:17, Mishpat, the right belonging to a boy, i.e., the proper treatment of him.

Verse 13

The angel of the Lord then repeated the instructions which he had already given to the woman in Jdg 13:4, simply adding to the prohibition of wine and strong drink the caution not to eat of anything that came from the vine, in accordance with Num 6:3.

Verse 15

As Manoah had not yet recognised in the man the angel of the Lord, as is observed by way of explanation in Jdg 13:16, he wished, like Gideon (Jdg 6:18), to give a hospitable entertainment to the man who had brought him such joyful tidings, and therefore said to him, "Let us detain thee, and prepare a kid for thee." The construction לפניך נעשׂה is a pregnant one: "prepare and set before thee." On the fact itself, see Jdg 6:19.

Verse 16

The angel of the Lord replied, "If thou wilt detain me (sc., that I may eat), I will not eat of thy food (אכל with בּ, to eat thereat, i.e., thereof, as in Exo 12:43; Lev 22:11); but if thou wilt prepare a burnt-offering for Jehovah, then offer it."

Verse 17

Manoah then asked his name: שׁמך מי, lit., "Who is thy name?" מי inquires after the person; מה, the nature of quality (see Ewald, 325, a.). "For if thy word come to pass, we will do thee honour." This was the reason why he asked after his name. כּבּד, to honour by presents, so as to show one's self grateful (see Num 22:17, Num 22:37; Num 24:11).

Verse 18

The angel replied, "Why askest thou then after my name? truly it is wonderful." The Kethibh פלאי is the adjectival form פּלאי from פּלא, for which the Keri has פּלי, the pausal form of פּלי (from the radical פּלה = פּלא). The word therefore is not the proper name of the angel of the Lord, but expresses the character of his name; and as the name simply denotes the nature, it expresses the peculiarity of his nature also. It is to be understood in an absolute sense, - "absolutely and supremely wonderful" (Seb. Schmidt), - as a predicate belonging to God alone (compare the term "Wonderful" in Isa 9:6), and not to be toned down as it is by Bertheau, who explains it as signifying "neither easy to utter nor easy to comprehend."

Verse 19

Manoah then took the kid and the minchah, i.e., according to Num 15:4., the meat-offering belonging to the burnt-offering, and offered it upon the rock, which is called an altar in Jdg 13:20, because the angel of the Lord, who is of one nature with God, had sanctified it as an altar through the miraculous acceptance of the sacrifice. לעשׁות מפלא, "and wonderfully (miraculously) did he act" (הפליא followed by the infinitive with ל as in Ch2 26:15). These words form a circumstantial clause, which is not to be attached, however, to the subject of the principal clause, but to ליהוה: "Manoah offered the sacrifice to the Lord, whereupon He acted to do wonderfully, i.e., He performed a wonder or miracle, and Manoah and his wife saw it" (see Ewald, Lehrb. 341, b., p. 724, note). In what the miracle consisted is explained in Jdg 13:20, in the words, "when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar;" that is to say, in the fact that a flame issued from the rock, as in the case of Gideon's sacrifice (Jdg 6:21), and consumed the sacrifice. And the angel of the Lord ascended in this flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell upon their faces to the earth (sc., in worship), because they discovered from the miracle that it was the angel of the Lord who had appeared to them.

Verse 21

From that time forward the Lord did not appear to them again. But Manoah was afraid that he and his wife should die, because they had seen God (on this belief, see the remarks on Gen 16:13 and Exo 33:20). His wife quieted his fears, however, and said, "Jehovah cannot intend to kill us, as He has accepted our sacrifice, and has shown us all this" (the twofold miracle). "And at this time He has not let us see such things as these." כּעת, at the time in which we live, even if such things may possibly have taken place in the hoary antiquity.

Verse 24

The promise of God was fulfilled. the boy whom the woman bare received the name of Samson. שׁמשׁון (lxx, Σαμψών) does not mean sun-like, hero of the sun, from שׁמשׁ (the sun), but, as Josephus explains it (Ant. v. 8, 4), ἰσχυρός, the strong or daring one, from שׁמשׁום, from the intensive from שׁמשׁם, from שׁמם, in its original sense to be strong or daring, not "to devastate." שׁדד is an analogous word: lit. to be powerful, then to act powerfully, to devastate. The boy grew under the blessing of God (see Sa1 2:21).

Verse 25

When he had grown up, the Spirit of Jehovah began to thrust him in the camp of Dan. פּעם, to thrust, denoting the operation of the Spirit of God within him, which took possession of him suddenly, and impelled him to put forth supernatural powers. Mahaneh-dan, the camp of Dan, was the name given to the district in which the Danites who emigrated, according to Jdg 18:12, from the inheritance of their tribe, had pitched their encampment behind, i.e., to the west of, Kirjath-jearim, or according to this verse, between Zorea and Eshtaol. The situation cannot be determined precisely, as the situation of Eshtaol itself has not been discovered yet (see at Jos 15:33). It was there that Samson lived with his parents, judging from Jdg 16:31. The meaning of this verse, which forms the introduction to the following account of the acts of Samson, is simply that Samson was there seized by the Spirit of Jehovah, and impelled to commence the conflict with the Philistines.

Introduction

At this chapter begins the story of Samson, the last of the judges of Israel whose story is recorded in this book, and next before Eli. The passages related concerning him are, from first to last, very surprising and uncommon. The figure he makes in this history is really great, and yet vastly different from that of his predecessors. We never find him at the head either of a court or of an army, never upon the throne of judgment nor in the field of battle, yet, in his own proper person, a great patriot of his country, and a terrible scourge and check to its enemies and oppressors; he was an eminent believer (Heb 11:32) and a glorious type of him who with his own arm wrought salvation. The history of the rest of the judges commences from their advancement to that station, but Samson's begins with his birth, nay, with his conception, no less than an angel from heaven ushers him into the world, as a pattern of what should be afterwards done to John Baptist and to Christ. This is related in this chapter. I. The occasion of raising up this deliverer was the oppression of Israel by the Philistines (Jdg 13:1). II. His birth is foretold by an angel to his mother (Jdg 13:2-5). III. She relates the prediction to his father (Jdg 13:6, Jdg 13:7). IV. They both together have it again from the angel (Jdg 13:8-14), whom they treat with respect (Jdg 13:15-18), and who, to their great amazement, discovers his dignity at parting (Jdg 13:19-23). V. Samson is born (Jdg 13:24, Jdg 13:25).

Verse 1

The first verse gives us a short account, such as we have too often met with already, of the great distress that Israel was in, which gave occasion for the raising up of a deliverer. They did evil, as they had done, in the sight of the Lord, and then God delivered them, as he had done, into the hands of their enemies. If there had been no sin, there would have needed no Saviour; but sin was suffered to abound, that grace might much more abound. The enemies God now sold them to were the Philistines, their next neighbours, that lay among them, the first and chief of the nations which were devoted to destruction, but which God left to prove them (Jdg 3:1, Jdg 3:3), the five lords of the Philistines, an inconsiderable people in comparison with Israel (they had but five cities of any note), and yet, when God made use of them as the staff in his hand, they were very oppressive and vexatious. And this trouble lasted longer than any yet: it continued forty years, though probably not always alike violent. When Israel was in this distress Samson was born; and here we have his birth foretold by an angel. Observe, I. His extraction. He was of the tribe of Dan, Jdg 13:2. Dan signifies a judge or judgment, Gen 30:6. And probably it was with an eye to Samson that dying Jacob foretold, Dan shall judge his people, that is, "he shall produce a judge for his people, though one of the sons of the handmaids, as one, as well as any one, of the tribes of Israel," Gen 49:16. The lot of the tribe of Dan lay next to the country of the Philistines, and therefore one of that tribe was most fit to be made a bridle upon them. His parents had been long childless. Many eminent persons were born of mothers that had been kept a great while in the want of the blessing of children, as Isaac, Joseph, Samuel, and John Baptist, that the mercy might be the more acceptable when it did come. Sing, O barren! thou that didst not bear, Isa 54:1. Note, Mercies long waited for often prove signal mercies, and it is made to appear that they were worth waiting for, and by them others may be encouraged to continue their hope in God's mercy. II. The glad tidings brought to his mother, that she should have a son. The messenger was an angel of the Lord (Jdg 13:3), yet appearing as a man, with the aspect and garb of a prophet, or man of God. And this angel (as the learned bishop Patrick supposes, on Jdg 13:18) was the Lord himself, that is, the Word of the Lord, who was to be the Messiah, for his name is called Wonderful, Jdg 13:18, and Jehovah, Jdg 13:19. The great Redeemer did in a particular manner concern himself about this typical redeemer. It was not so much for the sake of Manoah and his wife, obscure Danites, that this extraordinary message was sent, but for Israel's sake, whose deliverer he was to be, and not only so (his services to Israel not seeming to answer to the grandeur of his entry) but for the Messiah's sake, whose type he was to be, and whose birth must be foretold by an angel, as his was. The angel, in the message he delivers, 1. Takes notice of her affliction: Behold now, thou art barren and bearest not. Hence she might gather he was a prophet, that though a stranger to her, and one she had never seen before, yet he knew this to be her grievance. He tells her of it, not to upbraid her with it, but because perhaps at this time she was actually thinking of this affliction and bemoaning herself as one written childless. God often sends in comfort to his people very seasonably, when they feel most from their troubles. "Now thou art barren, but thou shalt not be always so," as she feared, "nor long so." 2. He assures her that she should conceive and bear a son (Jdg 13:3) and repeats the assurance, Jdg 13:5. To show the power of a divine word, the strongest man that ever was was a child of promise, as Isaac, born by force and virtue of a promise, and faith in that promise, Heb 11:11; Gal 4:23. Many a woman, after having been long barren, has borne a son by providence, but Samson was by promise, because a figure of the promised seed, so long expected by the faith of the Old Testament saints, 3. He appoints that the child should be a Nazarite from his birth, and therefore that the mother should be subject to the law of the Nazarites (though not under the vow of a Nazarite) and should drink no wine or strong drink so long as this child was to have its nourishment from her, either in the womb or at the breast, Jdg 13:4, Jdg 13:5. Observe, This deliverer of Israel must be in the strictest manner devoted to God and an example of holiness. It is spoken of as a kindness to the people that God raised up of their young men for Nazarites, Amo 2:11. Other judges had corrected their apostasies from God, but Samson must appear as one, more than any of them, consecrated to God; and, notwithstanding what we read of his faults, we have reason to think that being a Nazarite of God's making he did, in the course of his conversation, exemplify, not only the ceremony, but the substance of that separation to the Lord in which the Nazariteship did consist, Num 6:2. Those that would save others must by singular piety distinguish themselves. Samuel, who carried on Israel's deliverance from the Philistines, was a Nazarite by his mother's vow (Sa1 1:11), as Samson by the divine appointment. The mother of this deliverer must therefore deny herself, and not eat any unclean thing; what was lawful at another time was now to be forborne. As the promise tried her faith, so this precept tried her obedience; for God requires both from those on whom he will bestow his favours. Women with child ought conscientiously to avoid whatever they have reason to think will be any way prejudicial to the health or good constitution of the fruit of their body. And perhaps Samson's mother was to refrain from wine and strong drink, not only because he was designed for a Nazarite, but because he was designed for a man of great strength, which his mother's temperance would contribute to. 4. He foretels the service which this child should do to his country: He shall begin to deliver Israel. Note, It is very desirable that our children may be not only devoted entirely to God themselves, but instrumental for the good of others, and the service of their generation - not recluses, candles under a bushel, but on a candlestick. Observe, He shall begin to deliver Israel. This intimated that the oppression of the Philistines should last long, for Israel's deliverance from it should not so much as begin, not one step be taken towards it, till this child, who was now unborn, should have grown up to a capacity of beginning it. And yet he must not complete the deliverance: he shall only begin to deliver Israel, which intimates that the trouble should still be prolonged. God chooses to carry on his work gradually and by several hands. One lays the foundation of a good work, another builds, and perhaps a third brings forth the top stone. Now herein Samson was a type of Christ, (1.) As a Nazarite to God, a Nazarite from the womb. For, though our Lord Jesus was not a Nazarite himself, yet he was typified by the Nazarites, as being perfectly pure from all sin, not so much as conceived in it, and entirely devoted to his Father's honour. Of the Jewish church, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, because to them pertained the promise of him, Rom 9:4, Rom 9:5. By virtue of that promise,. he long lay as it were in the womb of that church, which for many ages was pregnant of him, and therefore, like Samson's mother, during that pregnancy was made a holy nation and a peculiar people, and strictly forbidden to touch any unclean thing for his sake, who in the fulness of time was to come from them. (2.) As a deliverer of Israel; for he is Jesus a Saviour, who saves his people from their sins. But with this difference: Samson did only begin to deliver Israel (David was afterwards raised up to complete the destruction of the Philistines), but our Lord Jesus is both Samson and David too, both the author and finisher of our faith. III. The report which Manoah's wife, in a transport of joy, brings in all haste to her husband, of this surprising message Jdg 13:6, Jdg 13:7. The glad tidings were brought her when she was alone, perhaps religiously employed in meditation or prayer; but she could not, she would not, conceal them from her husband, but gives him an account, 1. Of the messenger. It was a man of God, Jdg 13:6. His countenance she could describe; it was very awful: he had such a majesty in his looks, such a sparkling eye, such a shining face, so powerfully commanding reverence and respect, that according to the idea she had of an angel he had the very countenance of one. But his name she can give no account of, nor to what tribe or city of Israel he belonged, for he did not think fit to tell her, and, for her part, the very sight of him struck such an awe upon her that she durst not ask him. She was abundantly satisfied that he was a servant of God; his person and message she thought carried their own evidence along with them, and she enquired no further. 2. Of the message. She gives him a particular account both of the promise and of the precept (Jdg 13:7), that he also might believe the promise and might on all occasions be a monitor to her to observe the precept. Thus should yoke-fellows communicate to each other their experiences of communion with God, and their improvements in acquaintance with him, that they may be helpful to each other in the way that is called holy.

Verse 8

We have here an account of a second visit which the angel of God made to Manoah and his wife. I. Manoah earnestly prayed for it, Jdg 13:8. He was not incredulous of the story his wife told him; he knew she was a virtuous woman, and therefore the heart of her husband did safely trust in her; he knew she would not go about to impose upon him, much less was he, as Josephus unworthily represents him, jealous of his wife's conversation with this stranger; but, 1. He takes it for granted that this child of promise shall in due time be given them, and speaks without hesitation of the child that shall be born. There was not found so great faith, no, not in Zechariah, a priest, then in waiting at the altar of the Lord, and to whom the angel himself appeared, as was in this honest Danite. Things hidden from the wise and prudent, who value themselves upon the niceness of their enquiries, are often revealed unto babes, who know how to prize God's gifts and to take God's word. Blessed are those that have not seen and yet, as Manoah here, have believed. 2. All his care is what they should do to the child that should be born. Note, Good men are more solicitous and desirous to know the duty that is to be done by them than to know the events that shall occur concerning them; for duty is ours, events are God's. Solomon enquires concerning the good men should do, not the good they should have, Ecc 2:3. 3. He therefore prays to God to send the same blessed messenger again, to give them further instructions concerning the management of this Nazarite, fearing lest his wife's joy for the promise might have made her forget some part of the precept, in which he was desirous to be fully informed, and lie under no mistake: "Lord, let the man of God come again unto us, for we desire to be better acquainted with him." Note, Those that have heard from heaven cannot but wish to hear more thence, again and again to meet with the man of God. Observe, He does not go or send his servants abroad, to find out this man of God, but seeks him upon his knees, prays to God to send him, and, thus seeking, finds him. Would we have God's messengers, the ministers of his gospel, to bring a word proper for us, and for our instruction? Entreat the Lord to send them to us, to teach us, Rom 15:30, Rom 15:32. II. God graciously granted it: God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, Jdg 13:9. Note, God will not fail some way or other to guide those by his counsel that are sincerely desirous to know their duty, and apply themselves to him to teach them, Psa 25:8, Psa 25:9. 1. The angel appears the second time also to the wife, when she is sitting alone, probably tending the flocks, or otherwise well employed in the field where she has retired. Solitude is often a good opportunity of communion with God; good people have thought themselves never less alone than when alone, if God be with them. 2. She goes in all haste to call her husband, doubtless humbly beseeching the stay of this blessed messenger till she should return and her husband with her, Jdg 13:10, Jdg 13:11. She did not desire him to go with her to her husband, but would fetch her husband to him. Those that would meet with God must attend where he is pleased to manifest himself. "Oh," says she, overjoyed, "my dear love, thy prayers are answered - yonder is the man of God, come to make us another visit - he that came the other day," or, as some read it, this day, for other is not in the original, and it is probable enough that both these visits were on the same day, and at the same place, and that the second time she sat expecting him. The man of God is very willing she should call her husband, Joh 4:16. Those that have an acquaintance with the things of God themselves should invite others to the same acquaintance, Joh 1:45, Joh 1:46. Manoah is not disgusted that the angel did not this second time appear to him, but very willingly goes after his wife to the man of God. To atone (as it were) for the first fatal miscarriage, when Eve earnestly pressed Adam to that which was evil, and he too easily yielded to her, let yoke-fellows excite one another to love and good works; and, if the wife will lead, let not the husband think it any disparagement to him to follow her in that which is virtuous and praiseworthy. 3. Manoah having come to the angel, and being satisfied by him that he was the same that had appeared to his wife, does, with all humility, (1.) Welcome the promise (Jdg 13:12): Now let thy words come to pass; this was the language, not only of his desire, but of his faith, like that of the blessed Virgin, Luk 1:38. "Be it according to thy word. Lord, I lay hold on what thou hast said, and depend upon it; let it come to pass." (2.) Beg that the prescriptions given might be repeated: How shall we order the child? The directions were given to his wife, but he looks upon himself as concerned to assist her in the careful management of this promised seed, according to order; for the utmost care of both the parents, and their constant joint endeavour, are little enough to be engaged for the good ordering of children that are devoted to God and to be brought up for him. Let not one devolve it on the other, but both do their best. Observe from Manoah's enquiry, [1.] In general, that, when God is pleased to bestow any mercy upon us, our great care must be how to use it well, and as we ought, because it is then only a mercy indeed when it is rightly managed. God has given us bodies, souls, estates; how shall we order them, that we may answer the intent of the donor, and give a good account of them? [2.] In particular, those to whom God has given children must be very careful how they order them, and what they do unto them, that they may drive out the foolishness that is bound up in their hearts, form their minds and manners well betimes, and train them in the way wherein they should go. Herein pious parents will beg divine assistance. "Lord, teach us how we may order our children, that they may be Nazarites, and living sacrifices to thee." 4. The angel repeats the directions he had before given (Jdg 13:13, Jdg 13:14): Of all that I forbad let her beware; and all that I commanded her let her observe. Note, There is need of a good deal both of caution and observation, for the right ordering both of ourselves and of our children. Beware and observe; take heed not only of drinking wine or strong drink, but of eating any thing that cometh of the vine. Those that would preserve themselves pure must keep at a distance from that which borders upon sin or leads to it. When she was with child of a Nazarite, she must not eat any unclean thing; so those in whom Christ is formed must carefully cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and do nothing to the prejudice of that new man.

Verse 15

We have here an account, I. Of what further passed between Manoah and the angel at this interview. It was in kindness to him that while the angel was with him it was concealed from him that he was an angel; for, had he known it, it would have been such a terror to him that he durst not have conversed with him as he did (Jdg 13:16): He knew not that he was an angel. So Christ was in the world, and the world knew him not. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself. We could not bear the sight of the divine glory unveiled. God having determined to speak to us by men like ourselves, prophets and ministers, even when he spoke by his angels, or by his Son, they appeared in the likeness of men, and were taken but for men of God. Now, 1. The angel declined to accept his treat, and appointed him to turn it into a sacrifice. Manoah, being desirous to show some token of respect and gratitude to this venerable stranger who had brought them these glad tidings, begged he would take some refreshment with him (Jdg 13:15): We will soon make ready a kid for thee. Those that welcome the message will be kind to the messengers for his sake that sends them, Th1 5:13. But the angel told him (Jdg 13:16) he would not eat of his bread, any more than he would of Gideon's, but, as there, directed him to offer it to God, Jdg 6:20, Jdg 6:21. Angels need not meat nor drink; but the glorifying of God is their meat and drink, and it was Christ's, Joh 4:34. And we in some measure do the will of God as they do it if, though we cannot live without meat and drink, yet we eat and drink to the glory of God, and so turn even our common meals into sacrifices. 2. The angel declined telling him his name, and would not so far gratify his curiosity. Manoah desired to know his name (Jdg 13:17), and of what tribe he was, not as if he doubted the truth of his message, but that they might return his visit, and be better acquainted with him (it is good to increase and improve our acquaintance with good men and good ministers); and he has a further design: "That when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honour, celebrate thee as a true prophet, and recommend others to thee for divine instructions, - that we may call the child that shall be born after thy name, and so do thee honour, - or that we may send thee a present, honouring one whom God has honoured." But the angel denies his request with something of a check to his curiosity (Jdg 13:18): Why askest thou thus after my name? Jacob himself could not prevail for this favour, Gen 32:29. Note, We have not what we ask when we ask we know not what. Manoah's request was honestly meant and yet was denied. God told Moses his name (Exo 3:13, Exo 3:14), because there was a particular occasion for his knowing it, but here there was no occasion. What Manoah asked for instruction in his duty he was readily told (Jdg 13:12, Jdg 13:13), but what he asked to gratify his curiosity was denied. God has in his word given us full directions concerning our duty, but never designed to answer all the enquiries of a speculative head. He gives him a reason for his refusal: It is secret. The names of angels were not as yet revealed, to prevent the idolizing of them. After the captivity, when the church was cured of idolatry, angels made themselves known to Daniel by their names, Michael and Gabriel; and to Zacharias the angel told his name unasked (Luk 1:19): I am Gabriel. But here it is secret, or it is wonderful, too wonderful for us. One of Christ's names is Wonderful, Isa 9:6. His name was long a secret, but by the gospel it is brought to light: Jesus a Saviour. Manoah must not ask because he must not know. Note, (1.) There are secret things which belong not to us, and which we must content ourselves to be in the dark about while we are here in this world. (2.) We must therefore never indulge a vain curiosity in our enquiries concerning these things, Col 2:18. Nescire velle quae Magister maximus docere non vult erudita inscitia est - To be willingly ignorant of those things which our great Master refuses to teach us is to be at once ignorant and wise. 3. The angel assisted and owned their sacrifice, and, at parting, gave them to understand who he was. He had directed them to offer their burnt-offering to the Lord, Jdg 13:16. Praises offered up to God are the most acceptable entertainment of the angels; see Rev 22:9, worship God. And Manoah, having so good a warrant, though he was no priest and had no altar, turned his meat into a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock to the Lord (Jdg 13:19), that is, he brought and laid it to be offered. "Lord, here it is, do what thou pleasest with it." Thus we must bring our hearts to God as living sacrifices, and submit them to the operation of his Spirit. All things being now ready, (1.) The angel did wondrously, for his name was Wonderful. Probably the wonder he did was the same with what he had done for Gideon, he made fire to come either down from heaven or up out of the rock to consume the sacrifice. (2.) He ascended up towards heaven in the flame of the sacrifice, Jdg 13:20. By this it appeared that he was not, as they thought, a mere man, but a messenger immediately from heaven. Thence certainly he descended, for thither he ascended, Joh 3:13; Joh 6:62. This signified God's acceptance of the offering and intimates to what we owe the acceptance of all our offerings, even to the mediation of the angel of the covenant, that other angel, who puts much incense to the prayers of saints and so offers them before the throne, Rev 8:3. Prayer is the ascent of the soul to God. But it is Christ in the heart by faith that makes it an offering of a sweet-smelling savour: without him our services are offensive smoke, but, in him, acceptable flame. We may apply it to Christ's sacrifice of himself for us; he ascended in the flame of his own offering, for by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, Heb 9:12. While the angel did this, it is twice said (Jdg 13:19, Jdg 13:20) that Manoah and his wife looked on. This is a proof of the miracle: the matter of fact was true, for out of the mouth of these two eye-witnesses the report of it is established. The angel did all that was done in the sacrifice; they did but look on; yet doubtless, when the angel ascended towards heaven, their hearts ascended with him in thanksgiving for the promise which came thence and in expectation of the performance to come thence too. Yet, when the angel has ascended, they dared not, as those that were the witnesses of Christ's ascension, stand gazing up into heaven, but in holy fear and reverence they fell on their faces to the ground. And now, [1.] They knew that it was an angel, Jdg 13:21. It was plain it was not the body of a man they saw, since it was not chained to the earth, nor prejudiced by fire; but ascended, and ascended in flame, and therefore with good reason they conclude it was an angel; for he maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. [2.] But he did not any more appear to them; it was for a particular occasion, now over, that he was sent, not to settle a constant correspondence, as with prophets. They must remember and observe what the angel had said and not expect to hear more. II. We have an account of the impressions which this vision made upon Manoah and his wife. While the angel did wondrously, they looked on, and said nothing (so it becomes us carefully to observe the wondrous works of God, and to be silent before him); but when he had gone, having finished his work, they had time to make their reflections. 1. In Manoah's reflection upon it there is great fear, Jdg 13:22. He had spoken with great assurance of the son they should shortly be the joyful parents of (Jdg 13:8, Jdg 13:12), and yet is now put into such a confusion by that very thing which should have strengthened and encouraged his faith that he counts upon nothing but their being both cut off immediately: We shall surely die. It was a vulgar opinion generally received among the ancient Jews that it was present death to see God or an angel; and this notion quite overcome his faith for the present, as it did Gideon's, Jdg 6:22. 2. In his wife's reflection upon it there is great faith, Jdg 13:23. Here the weaker vessel was the stronger believer, which perhaps was the reason why the angel chose once and again to appear to her. Manoah's heart began to fail him, but his wife, as a help meet for him, encouraged him. Two are better than one, for, if one fall into dejections and despondencies, the other will help to raise him up. Yoke-fellows should piously assist each other's faith and joy as there is occasion. None could argue better than Manoah's wife does here: We shall surely die, said her husband; "Nay," said she, "we need not fear that; let us never turn that against us which is really for us. We shall not die unless God be pleased to kill us: our death must come from his hand and his pleasure. Now the tokens of his favour which we have received forbid us to think that he designs our destruction. Had he thought fit to kill us, (1.) He would not have accepted our sacrifice, and signified to us his acceptance of it by turning it to ashes, Psa 20:3, margin. The sacrifice was the ransom of our lives, and the fire fastening upon that was a plain indication of the turning away of his wrath from us. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, but you see ours is not so. (2.) He would not have shown us all these things, these strange sights, now at a time when there is little or no open vision (Sa1 3:1), nor would he have given these exceedingly great and precious promises of a son that shall be a Nazarite and a deliverer of Israel - he would not have told us such things as these if he had been pleased to kill us. We need not fear the withering of those roots out of which such a branch is yet to spring." Note, Hereby it appears that God designs not the death of sinners that he has accepted the great sacrifice which Christ offered up for their salvation, has put them in a way of obtaining his favour, and has assured them of it upon their repentance. Had he been pleased to kill them, he would not have done so. And let those good Christians who have had communion with God in the word and prayer, to whom he has graciously manifested himself, and who have had reason to think God has accepted their works, take encouragement thence in a cloudy and dark day. "God would not have done what he has done for my soul if he had designed to forsake me, and leave me to perish at last; for his work is perfect, nor will he mock his people with his favours." Learn to reason as Manoah's wife did, "If God had designed me to perish under his wrath, he would not have given me such distinguishing tokens of his favour." O woman! great is thy faith.

Verse 24

Here is, 1. Samson's birth. The woman that had been long barren bore a son, according to the promise; for no word of God shall fall to the ground. Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 2. His name, Samson, has been derived by some, from Shemesh, the sun, turned into a diminutive, sol exiguus - the sun in miniature, perhaps because, being born like Moses to be a deliverer, he was like him exceedingly fair, his face shone like a little sun; or his parents so named him in remembrance of the shining countenance of that man of God who brought them the notice of him; though they knew not his name, yet thus, now that his sayings had come to pass, they did him honour. A little sun, because a Nazarite born (for the Nazarites were as rubies and sapphires, Lam 4:7, and because of his great strength. The sun is compared to a strong man Psa 19:5); why should not a strong man then be compared to the sun when he goes forth in his strength? A little sun, because the glory of, and a light to, his people Israel, a type of Christ, the Sun of righteousness. 3. His childhood. He grew more than is usual in strength and stature, far out-grew other children of his age; and not in that only, but in other instances, it appeared that the Lord blessed him, qualified him, both in body and mind, for something great and extraordinary. Children of promise shall have the blessing. 4. His youth. When he grew up a little the Spirit of the Lord began to move him, Jdg 13:25. This was an evidence that the Lord blessed him. Where God gives his blessing he gives his Spirit to qualify for the blessing. Those are blessed indeed in whom the Spirit of grace begins to work betimes, in the days of their childhood. If the Spirit be poured out upon our offspring, they will spring up as willows by the water courses, Isa 44:3, Isa 44:4. The Spirit of God moved Samson in the camp of Dan, that is, in the general muster of the trained bands of that tribe, who probably had formed a camp between Zorah and Eshtaol, near the place where he lived, to oppose the incursions of the Philistines; there Samson, when a child, appeared among them, and signalized himself by some very brave actions, excelling them all in manly exercises and trials of strength: and probably he showed himself more than ordinarily zealous against the enemies of his country, and discovered more of a public spirit than could be expected in a child. The Spirit moved him at times, not at all times, but as the wind blows, when he listed, to show that what he did was not from himself, for then he could have done it at any time. Strong men think themselves greatly animated by wine (Psa 78:65), but Samson drank no wine, and yet excelled in strength and courage, and every thing that was bold and brave, for he had the Spirit of God moving him; therefore be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit, who will come to those that are sober and temperate.

The Enemy of Revival - Part 1 (Cd Quality)

Samson, Delilah and the Secret of Strength

The Character of Samson

Where Is Your Strength

Women of Deliverance (Birmingham Conference)

Wonderful

Isaiah Chapter 9

Hidden in the Cleft of the Rock

(Men God Made) Samson

Samson - Physically Strong, Morally Weak

Bristol Conference 1976-18 Studies in the Judges

Samson #1 - His Home

The History, Mystery and Tragedy of Samson - Part 2

Samson

What Happened?

Separation and Strength; a Lesson From the Life of Sampson

After the Fall

The Secret Name

The Nazarite Remnant

Introduction

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 11

Verse 15

Verse 17

Verse 24

Verse 25

Introduction

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Introduction

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 6

Verse 8

Verse 10

Verse 13

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 21

Verse 24

Verse 25

Introduction

Verse 1

Verse 8

Verse 15

Verse 24