Judges 13:1 ¶ And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
After 31 years of peace encompassing the time of service of the last four judges, the people of Israel once again turned to evil (turning away from the LORD is understood). This time the LORD made them subject to the Philistines for 40 years.
Although there is no record of repentance or that the people sought God’s deliverance, this chapter reveals that the LORD was going to provide a deliverer according to His own purposes at the time of His choosing.
Judges 13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
Judges 13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
Judges 13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Judges 13:5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
“Zorah” – JFB describes this town as near the Philistine border on the boundary of the tribes of Judah and Dan. The NIV Commentary notes that it was about 15 miles west of Jerusalem.
We are introduced to a man of the tribe of Dan that lived in Zorah whose name is Manoah. His wife was barren. The “angel of the LORD” appeared to Manoah’s wife and told her that she was going to give birth to a son. He directed her not to drink wine or strong drink or to eat anything that God had declared to be unclean. She was never to cut the child’s hair because her son was to be a Nazarite, dedicated to God from the womb. She was told that God was going to use her son to “begin” to deliver Israel from the Philistines. In other words, he would not be wholly successful.
The “angel of the LORD” will be identified later in the chapter as God (v22), the preincarnate Jesus.
It is important to note that the LORD declared the purpose of this child’s life before he was even conceived. Every child born into this world is born in accordance with the LORD’s sovereignty. It is He that opens and/or closes wombs and intricately determines the formation of each child within the womb.
Genesis 20:18 “For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.”
Genesis 30:22 “And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.”
Psalms 139:13 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” (I liked the wording of the ESV)
Isaiah 44:2 “Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb….”
Jeremiah 1:4–5 “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee….”
Note that the verse in Jeremiah declares that every child is recognized as a person from the moment of conception; in fact, that child is known by God before conception.
Judges 13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
Judges 13:7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Manoah’s wife told her husband that a man of God that looked like an angel of God had come and talked to her. She admitted that she was too in awe of the man to ask him where he was from or what his name was. She then proceeded to tell Manoah what the angel had told her. She emphasized that the child was to be a Nazarite to God throughout his whole life, dedicated to the service of God for life.
According to Easton’s Dictionary, the vow of a Nazarite involved three things:
Abstaining from wine and strong drink
Refraining from cutting the hair off the head during the whole period of the vow
Avoiding contact with the dead.
Thinking…Technically, once we become followers of the LORD through the experience of the new birth, we are to be modern day Nazarites, dedicated to the service of the LORD for life. We live in the age of grace and are not bound by the stipulations of the law pertaining to a Nazarite, but we should live as bound by another spiritual truth.
Romans 12:1–2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Judges 13:8 ¶ Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
Judges 13:9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
Judges 13:10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
Naturally, Manoah wanted confirmation from the LORD of what his wife had told him; so he prayed and asked God to send the man back so that he could teach them both what to do with the child. God answered Manoah’s prayer. When the “angel of God” appeared to the woman again, she was alone out in the field. She quickly ran to tell her husband that the man was back.
I guess she just assumed that the man would wait for her to return in light of Manoah’s prayer.
Judges 13:11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
Judges 13:12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
Judges 13:13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
Judges 13:14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
Manoah got up and followed his wife to meet the man. He asked him to confirm that he was the same man that had met his wife previously, and he did. Manoah immediately asked him how they were to treat the child. The angel warned them to obey all the instructions that he had given the woman previously. She was to be careful not to eat anything grown on the vine or drink wine or strong drink; neither was she to eat anything that the law declared to be unclean.
Judges 13:15 ¶ And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
Judges 13:16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
Manoah asked the man to allow them to prepare him a meal. The “angel of the LORD” declared that he would not eat with them. However, if they wanted to give thanks, they should offer a sacrifice to the LORD. It is noted that Manoah did not realize that the man was God appearing to him in the flesh.
Judges 13:17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
Judges 13:18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
Judges 13:19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
Judges 13:20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
Manoah asked the man his name because they wanted to be able to honor him after the baby was born. The angel told him that his name was “secret”—wonderful, hidden, miraculous according to the Hebrew. This brings to mind the words of Isaiah.
Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,”
So Manoah took a kid goat and offered it on a rock unto the LORD. When he did, the angel caused a flame to rise up to heaven from the sacrifice; then he ascended and disappeared in that flame.
At that point Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground; they finally realized the identity of the angel.
Judges 13:21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.
Judges 13:22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
Judges 13:23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
The angel did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Manoah was afraid that they were going to die because they had seen God. He was evidently aware of the record of Moses.
Exodus 33:17–20 “And the LORD said unto Moses….Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
His wife was more logical in her outlook. She reasoned that if the LORD wanted to kill them, He would not have received the sacrifice they had offered. More importantly, He would never have appeared to them to make a promise He didn’t intend to fulfill.
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments….”
Judges 13:24 ¶ And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
Judges 13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
It came to pass that the woman gave birth to a son, just as the LORD had told them; and they named him Samson—from the Hebrew meaning “his sun, his service.” They hoped that Samson would be a light unto the LORD as he served Him.
As the child grew, the LORD blessed him; and God’s Holy Spirit began to prompt him to action at times—though we aren’t told how this was evidenced. In future chapters we will learn that he gained the reputation of a man of unequalled and awe inspiring strength.
He lived in the area of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges 14:1 ¶ And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Judges 14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Judges 14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Judges 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
As is often the case, what turns out to be “God’s will” often does not match up with what we think it should be. This chapter is a good example.
Samson was in a neighboring town one day and saw a Philistine girl that caught his eye. She was so attractive to him that he told his father and mother that (according to the culture of that day) they must arrange for her to become his wife. His parents did their best to persuade him to choose a Jewish girl instead of a daughter of “an uncircumcised Philistine.” Samson was determined and declared that she was the only woman for him.
Little did his parents know that Samson’s attraction to this girl was part of God’s plan. He intended to use this relationship to begin acting in judgment against the Philistines who were at that time ruling over Israel.
Judges 14:5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.
Judges 14:6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
As Samson and his parents journeyed to Timnath, they came to the vineyards of Timnath—on the outskirts of town, I presume. It seems that they were traveling separately; maybe the parents were traveling ahead of him to talk to the parents before he got there.
Samson was attacked by a young lion. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he was easily able to tear the lion apart with his bare hands. You would think that would be big news to share with his parents, but he did not tell them what had happened.
Judges 14:7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
Judges 14:8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.
Judges 14:9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
He went on to Timnath and spent some time talking to the woman, and she pleased him very much.
Evidently, they were successful in arranging for the marriage. As Samson was on the way to his wedding, he decided to check out the carcase of the lion. Lo and behold, a swarm of bees had used the carcase of the lion to build a hive and make honey. He decided to eat some of the honey and even take some to his parents. He did not tell them, however, that he had taken the honeycomb out of the carcase of a dead lion.
As we learned in the previous chapter, this was in direct violation of his Nazarite vow.
Judges 14:10 ¶ So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
Judges 14:11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Judges 14:12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:
Judges 14:13 But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.
While his father went down to see the bride-to-be prior to the wedding, Samson, in keeping with tradition, prepared a feast for the young men of Timnath. When they saw him coming, they gathered together a group of 30 young men to celebrate with him.
Samson proposed a riddle and challenged them to solve it within the seven days allotted for the feast. If they solved it, he would give them 30 fine linen shirts (from the Hebrew) and 30 changes of clothing. If they did not solve it, they each had to give him a fine linen shirt and a change of clothes. The young men agreed to the deal and asked him to tell them the riddle.
Judges 14:14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
Judges 14:15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?
The riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.”
By the third day, the young men still couldn’t figure out the riddle. On the 7th day they went to Samson’s wife and urged her to use her feminine wiles to persuade her husband into revealing the answer to the riddle. If she did not, they promised to destroy both her and her father’s house with fire. They accused her of setting them up to be robbed.
Some of the translations note that it was the 4th day of the feast because of the reference to not being able to solve the riddle in the first three days. The Hebrew characters for 4 and 7 are very similar.
Judges 14:16 And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
Judges 14:17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
Samson’s wife went to him in tears declaring that he must not love her since he had not told her the answer to his riddle. He declared that he had not even told his parents the answer. Evidently, in that culture the parents were held in higher esteem than the wife—or at least a new bride.
We are told that she wept for the entire 7 days of the feast or the remaining days of the feast--whichever. The timing isn’t really important. What is important is that he finally yielded and told her the answer to the riddle on the last day of the feast because she had been so persistent. She then gave the answer to the young men “of her people,” Philistine men. She betrayed her husband out of fear.
Judges 14:18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
Judges 14:19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.
The young men went to Samson before the sun had set and gave him the answer to the riddle—“What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?”
Samson immediately realized that his wife had betrayed him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him. He went down to Ashkelon (about 24 miles distant) and killed 30 men and took their garments to the men at the feast.
He was very angry and returned to his father’s home without his bride.
This marked the beginning of God’s judgment against the Philistines through Samson.
I liked this comment from the New Bible Commentary: “The Samson story is a fascinating study in the relationship between human freedom and divine sovereignty. It shows the Lord working all things together for the good of his people, even when they were least aware of it, and despite the waywardness of the one he had chosen to use. He is still the same gracious, sovereign God today. He still works all things together for the good of his people, whether they are aware of it or not.”
Judges 14:20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
Samson’s wife was given to the man that he had used as the best man at the wedding. I guess they assumed that he had rejected her forever.