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JUDGES 13

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. The account of Samson's exploits is recorded in Jdgs. 13:1-16:31. The imperfections of the judges continue but worsen.
   
   
2. Josephus, in his book, Antiquities of the Jews 8.7.2,3, elaborates this story along the lines of a godly Manoah's jealousy against the angel (i.e., appeared as a young man). However, this very detailed account seems to be pure fabrication.
   
   
3. The concept of "the angel of the Lord," developed in Judges 13, is one of many biblical examples of a theophany or physical manifestation of God. There seem to be two emphases in the OT:
   1. that the angel of the Lord represents Deity (cf. Gen. 16:7-13; 31:13; 22:11-15; 48:15, 16; Exod. 2:2, 4; 13:1; 14:19; and Zech. 3:1,2)
   2. the separateness between YHWH and the angel (cf. Gen. 24:7, 40; Exod. 23:30; 32:34; 1 Chr. 21:15ff; Zech. 1:12, 13)

   Both of these emphases are continued in this chapter.

   SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ANGEL OF THE Lord

4. The tribe of Dan was originally allocated land next to that of Benjamin and Judah in the southern part of the Promised Land. But, because of external pressures from the Philistines (cf. Jdgs. 10:7; the Philistines were a major threat up until the time of David, 2 Sam. 5:17-25), Dan moved north as seen in the latter part of the book of Judges (i.e., Judges 18). This is the origin of the famous proverb, "from Dan to Beersheba," which refers to the entire Promised Land and reflects the northern movement of this tribe.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 13:1
  ¹Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

13:1 "Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord" The vicious cycle of the book of Judges continues. The fallenness of mankind, which began in Genesis 3, has shown its deadly trail throughout the Pentateuch and continues throughout these two historical books (Joshua and Judges), and will continue throughout the entire Bible.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL

▣ "Philistines" These were part of the Sea Peoples from the Aegean Islands. Apparently they were originally a mercenary group who tried to invade Egypt around 1250 B.C. They were successfully repulsed by Rameses III and then settled on the southwest coast of Palestine.

The term "Palestine" comes from the name "Philistine" (BDB 814). They had five major cities: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Eklon, and Gad. Each one of these had their own chieftain or king. They brought iron age technology with them and, therefore, had technological superiority over the Hebrews for many years (cf. 1 Sam. 13:19-22). They also had chariots which meant they controlled the coastal plains. At first their domination of the people of God was subtle and not military in nature. This is basically why Samson had to instigate an international incident in order to arouse the people of God to throw off the Philistine yoke (cf. Jdgs. 15:9-13).

▣ "forty" This word is often a round number signifying a long time period. In Jdgs. 3:11; 5:31; 8:28 it is used of a period of rest and peace, but here it denotes an extended period of oppression, but it was subtle pressure, not overt.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #7

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 13:2-7
  ²There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. ³Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. ⁴Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. ⁵For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines." ⁶Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. ⁷But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'"

13:2 "a man of Zorah" This is a Danite city which is mentioned in Jos. 19:41. It is about 14 miles west of Jerusalem.

▣ "his wife was barren" As has often been the case in the OT, God shows His power by raising up his leaders from barren women (i.e., Sarai ‒ Gen. 11:30; Rebekah ‒ Gen. 25:21; Rachel ‒ Gen. 29:31). This same theological priority is seen in that He very seldom chooses the eldest son, which would be the cultural choice, to lead His people. God wants to receive the glory for His acts, not human resources (cf. Jdgs. 7:2).

SPECIAL TOPIC: FIRSTBORN

13:3 "the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman" We see the angel of the Lord several times throughout this chapter. In my opinion, it may be the pre-Incarnate Christ. There are some verses where the angel is identified with Deity (cf. Jdgs. 13:11), where he answered, "I am," which is the covenant name for God; and Jdgs. 13:22 where Manoah and his wife believe they are going to die because they have seen God. However, the separation between God and the angel can also be seen in Jdgs. 13:8, 9, and 10. It is interesting to note that we have YHWH mentioned in Jdgs. 13:8, the Spirit of God in 13:25, and if the angel of the Lord here is the pre-Incarnate Jesus, then we have an OT example of the Trinity involved in this account.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ANGEL OF THE Lord

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TRINITY

13:4 "be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing" Here we have the threefold description of a Nazirite vow. The word "Nazirite" (BDB 634, see Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 466-467 and James Freeman, Manners and Customs of the Bible, pp. 452-453) comes from the term "to be separate" or "to consecrate." It is fully described in Numbers 6. In this account it is defined as someone who cannot drink wine or touch anything unclean or shave his head. Samson will violate each of these at some point in his life. We have examples of Nazirites in the NT (cf. Luke 1:15, which describes John the Baptist in these terms; Acts 18:18 and 21:21-26 describes Paul and his Nazirite vow). There were two types of these vows, one was permanent (John the Baptist) and one was temporary (Paul). The rabbis said that the vow had to last at least 30 days. The long hair was a symbol of special dedication to God.

This verse has

1. a Niphal IMPERATIVE ‒ "be careful" (BDB 1036, KB 1581)
2. an IMPERFECT used as a JUSSIVE
   1. not to drink ‒ BDB 1059, KB 1667
   2. not to eat ‒ BDB 37, KB 46
3. Same as 2.

The JUSSIVE sense is continued in Jdgs. 13:8 and 14. We learn from 13:5 that these restrictions are related to him as being a special dedication to God from his birth (i.e., a Nazirite, cf. Numbers 6).

It is also interesting to note that the Nazirite aspects of both Jdgs. 13:4 and 14 apply specifically only to the mother, who is not mentioned in Numbers 6.

Their continuation in the life of Samson is stated in Jdgs. 13:5,7. A birth dedication was meant to be permanent (like the Rechabites of Jeremiah 35 and John the Baptist). Yet, his life would be anything but "dedicated to God"! Here is a good example of how the faith hopes of the parents are not always transferred to the children! But God will use his deviant behavior for His purposes.

SPECIAL TOPIC: OLD TESTAMENT FOOD LAWS

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAZIRITE VOW

13:5 "no razor shall come upon his head" Razors were often associated with idolatry, which may explain the prohibition (cf. Deut. 32:42; Jdgs. 5:2; 2 Sam. 14:26).

▣ "and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines" Notice that it is only going to be the beginning of the struggle—not the end.

Notice the two Hiphil IMPERFECT VERBALS.

1. "begin" ‒ BDB 320, KB 319, Hiphil IMPERFECT
2. "to deliver" ‒ BDB 446, KB 448, Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT

Judah's conflict with the Philistines lasted for many years, but Samson started the military response to the Philistine's gradual and pervasive influence in the region.

▣ "to deliver" This VERB (BDB 446, KB 448, Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) means "deliver," "save," "be victorious." The deliverance is from Philistine influence to the influence of YHWH. Biblical "salvation" is always a deliverance "from" and "to"!

For the NOUN form, see SPECIAL TOPIC: SALVATION (OT Term).

13:6 "the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome" This is apparently where Josephus got his interpretation that Manoah was jealous and the angel came back in order to dispel that jealousy.

The MT has a PARTICIPLE and an ADVERB.

1. BDB 431, KB 432, Niphal PARTICIPLE, from the word "fear," but when used of YHWH
   1. causes astonishment and awe
   2. awe-inspiring majesty
   3. inspires reverence

   It is used of a theophany both here and in Gen. 28:17

2. BDB 547, KB 538, exceedingly

▣ "tell me his name" The woman did not ask his name or the place of his origin. This same emphasis on the importance of the name can be seen in

1. Gen. 32:29, where Jacob wrestled with the angel
2. Exod. 3:13-14 and 33:17, where Moses asks God whom he should say sent him to deliver the Israelites

The names of spiritual beings was a large part of ANE magic.

SPECIAL TOPIC: "THE NAME" OF YHWH

SPECIAL TOPIC: MAGIC

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 13:8-14
  ⁸Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born." ⁹God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me." ¹¹Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." ¹²Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation?" ¹³So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. ¹⁴She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded."

13:8 "that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born" It was the responsibility of the Hebrew father to train the child in the family faith (cf. Exod. 10:2; 12:26; 13:8,14; Deut. 4:9, 10; 6:7, 20-25; 11:19; 31:13; 32:46), and in his vocation. Apparently Manoah had the best of motives and was asking for more information. It is interesting that the angel does return but does not give any additional information.

13:10 "the man" Apparently the angel looked like any man of that day. He may have been startling and attractive but it was not obvious that this was a theophany (cf. Jdgs. 13:22).

SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD DESCRIBED AS HUMAN

13:11 "he said, 'I am'" This, of course, would be just the normal response but also it is the covenant name for God taken from Exod. 3:14. This same answer by Jesus will cause the Jews to try to kill Him because He claims to be God (cf. John 8:56-59).

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITYy, D

13:12 "Now when your words come to pass" This is a faith affirmation on Manoah's part of his trust in the angel's prediction (cf. Jdgs. 13:17, a son for his barren wife).

The AB, p. 220, suggests that both IMPERFECT VERBS are "transparently JUSSIVE" (i.e., "Let your words come true").

13:14 "strong drink" Basically this was the mixing of fermented wine with spices or the addition of other fermented grain extract for the purpose of raising the alcohol content.

The LXX changes the FEMININE forms to MASCULINE forms. This makes the verse refer to Samson and not his mother, as in Jdgs. 13:7.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ALCOHOL ‒ ALCOHOLISM, I., A., #4.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 13:15-20
  ¹⁵Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord "Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you." ¹⁶The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord" For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord ¹⁷Manoah said to the angel of the Lord "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?" ¹⁸But the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" ¹⁹So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. ²⁰For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.

13:17-18 "What is your name" The angel answers by saying that it is too wonderful for them. The term "wonderful" (BDB 816) is translated "difficult" in Gen. 18:14 and as "marvelously wonderful" in Isa. 29:14. Apparently the name was significant but the angel simply could not reveal it to them at this time (cf. Gen. 32:29). This angel did some wonderful things (set fire to the sacrifice), much like the angel apparently did for Gideon in Jdgs. 6:19-21.

SPECIAL TOPIC: WONDERFUL THINGS (OT)

The MT has the ADJECTIVE "wonderful" or "incomprehensible" (BDB 811, KB 928). For the VERB see SPECIAL TOPIC: WONDERFUL THINGS (OT).

The ADJECTIVE is used here for the name of the angel of the Lord and in Ps. 139:6 of God's knowledge; also note it is one of the titles of the Messiah in Isa. 9:6, and YHWH's counsel in Isa. 28:29.

13:19 "So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord" This is similar to Gideon's offering of the sacrifice in Jdgs. 6:21-22 (i.e., the angel caused the offering to catch fire).

▣ "He performed wonders" The "He" is capitalized in the New American Standard Bible, implying that the angel is divine (cf. Jdgs. 13:21).

Notice the VERB (BDB 810, KB 927, Hiphil PARTICIPLE) is the same root as the angel's name in Jdgs. 13:18.

13:20 "For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar" Now this will get someone's attention! It does seem to cause the fear which is mentioned in Jdgs. 13:22.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 13:21-23
  ²¹Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. ²²So Manoah said to his wife, "We will surely die, for we have seen God." ²³But his wife said to him, "If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time."

13:22 "We shall surely die, for we have seen God" This was a common concept in the OT and apparently was connected to His holiness. Manoah's wife's response in Jdgs. 13:23 was very pragmatic and assured him that since God has given him this revelation, He was not going to kill him.

The phrase "surely die" is an intensified Hebrew grammatical structure of an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and an IMPERFECT VERB from the same root (BDB 559, KB 562).

There is some confusion in the OT about the ability of humans to see God. I have inserted my notes from Exod. 33:17-23.

Exod. 33:17-23 Moses wants to visibly see YHWH. Already he has a unique, intimate relationship (cf. Exod. 33:11; Num. 12:8; Deut. 34:10), but he wants more. Apparently Moses

1. did not think seeing YHWH meant death
2. did not fully grasp Exod. 20:4
3. wanted another experience like Exod. 24:10,11, but this time just for him

There is uncertainty about the fear of seeing God, which was thought to cause death because of God's holiness.

1. some did see God (in the Angel of the Lord) and live
   1. Gen. 16:13 ‒ Hagar, as the Angel of the Lord
   2. Gen. 32:30 ‒ Jacob in a vision
   3. Exod. 24:10-11 ‒ 70 elders and Moses in a theophany
   4. Deut. 5:24 ‒ Israel sees the glory of YHWH as the Angel of the Lord
   5. Jdgs. 6:22-23 ‒ Gideon
   6. Jdgs. 13:21-22 ‒ Samson's parents as the Angel of the Lord
   7. Isa. 6:1,5 (cf. John 12:41) ‒ Isaiah in a vision,
   8. Ezek. 1:26-27 ‒ Ezekiel in a vision of YHWH's chariot/throne
   9. Dan. 7:9-14 ‒ Daniel in a vision as the Ancient of Days
2. no one has seen God and lived
   1. Exod. 3:6; 19:21; 33:20, 23
   2. Lev. 16:2
   3. Num. 4:20
   4. 1 Kgs. 19:13
   5. even angels hid their faces, Isa. 6:2
   6. John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46
   7. 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16
   8. 1 John 4:12, 20
3. no one has heard God and lived
   1. Exod. 20:19
   2. Deut. 4:33; 5:24-26; 18:16
   3. 2 Cor. 12:1-4
4. believers can see God in Jesus ‒ John
5. one day believers will see God
   1. Matt. 5:8
   2. 1 Cor. 13:12
   3. Heb. 12:14
   4. Rev. 22:4
   5. note Job 42:5; Ps. 17:15; 42:2

▣ "God" This is the Hebrew title Elohim, which can refer to spiritual beings (JPSOA, NET Bible).

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, C.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 13:24-25
  ²⁴Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

13:24 "named him Samson" We are not sure of the origin of this name (BDB 1039, KB 1592). Some say it comes from the word "sun" (BDB 1039) but this is speculation. If it does,

1. the ending is diminutive resulting in "little sun" or "child of the sun"
2. it may relate to the nearby town of Beth-shemesh (NASB Study Bible, p. 332)

▣ "the child grew up and the Lord blessed him" This language is similar to

1. Samuel ‒ 1 Sam. 2:26
2. Jesus ‒ Luke 2:52

It denotes a normal, healthy childhood. The "blessing" does not imply that YHWH approved of Samson's later lustful attitude toward Philistine women, although it is obvious from the account that YHWH would use this for His greater purposes.

13:25 "the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him" This seems to refer to specific occurrences. One of the great tragedies of Samson's life is in Jdgs. 16:20 where the Spirit of the Lord departed from him and he did not even notice it. For similar experiences in Judges see Jdgs. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 14:6, 19; 15:14, 19. These judges acted in God's power, not their own!

SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE

▣ "Mahaneh-dan" This literally means "the camp of Dan" (BDB 334). It shows the external (i.e., Philistine) pressure that the tribe of Dan was under, so that they could not even live in the walled cities but were forced to live in nomadic tents.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Describe the Philistines
2. Who is the angel of the Lord?
3. What is a Nazirite?
4. Why did Manoah think he was going to die when he saw God?
5. How is the Spirit of God that came upon Samson related to the Spirit of God in the NT?

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