Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Judges 13

Introduction

1  Israel is delivered into the hands of Philistines.
2  An angel appears to Manoah's wife.
8  The angel appears to Manoah.
15  Manoah's sacrifices, whereby the angel is discovered.
24  Samson is born.

Verse 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.
did
Heb. added to commit, etc.
2:11, 3:7, 4:1, 6:1, 10:6, Romans 2:6
in the sight
Jeremiah 13:23
delivered
"This seems a partial captivity."
into the
1 Samuel 12:9

Verse 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.
Zorah
Joshua 15:33, 19:41
barren
Genesis 16:1, 25:21, 1 Samuel 1:2-6, Luke 1:7

Verse 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.
the angel
2:1, 6:11,12, Genesis 16:7-13, Luke 1:11,28-38
but thou
Genesis 17:16, 18:10, 1 Samuel 1:20, 2 Kings 4:16, Luke 1:13,31

Verse 4

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
drink not
14, Numbers 6:2,3, Luke 1:15
eat not
Leviticus 11:27,47, Acts 10:14

Verse 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.
no rasor
Numbers 6:2,3,5, 1 Samuel 1:11
begin
1 Samuel 7:13, 2 Samuel 8:1, 1 Chronicles 18:1

Verse 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:
A man
Deuteronomy 33:1, Joshua 14:6, 1 Samuel 2:27, 9:6, 1 Kings 17:18,24, 2 Kings 4:9,16, 1 Timothy 6:11
countenance was
Matthew 28:3, Luke 9:29, Acts 6:15
terrible
22, Genesis 28:16,17, Exodus 3:2,6, Daniel 8:17, 10:5,11, Matthew 28:4, Revelation 1:17
but I asked, etc
The Vulgate renders this cause very differently, the negative Not being omitted: Quem cùm interrogâssim quis esset, et unde venisset, et quo nomine vocaretur, noluit mihi dicere; sed hoc respondit, etc; "Whom when I asked who he was, and whence he came, and by what name he was called, would not tell me: but this he said," etc. The negative is also wanting in the Septuagint, as it is in the Complutensian Polyglott; [kai erouton auton pothen estin, kai to onoma auton, ouk apengeilen moi.] "And I asked him whence he was, and his name, but he did not tell me." This is also the reading of the Codex Alexandrinus; but the Septuagint in the London Polyglott, the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, read the negative particle with the Hebrew text: I asked Not his name, etc.
his name
17,18, Genesis 32:29, Luke 1:19

Verse 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.
teach us
Job 34:32, Proverbs 3:5,6, Acts 9:6

Verse 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.
hearkened
Psalms 65:2, Matthew 7:7-11

Verse 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.
Behold
John 1:41,42, 4:28,29
the other day
Byyom, rather, "in this day," or "to-day," for the word other is not in the original, and it is probably that the angel appeared in the morning and evening of the same day.

Verse 12

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
How shall we order the child
Heb. what shall be the manner of the child?
Genesis 18:19, Proverbs 4:4, 22:6, Ephesians 6:4
how shall we do unto him
or, what shall he do? Heb. what shall be his work?

Verse 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.
neither
all that I
Deuteronomy 12:32, Matthew 28:20, John 2:5, 15:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:4

Verse 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.
let us
6:18,19, Genesis 18:3-5
until
Manoah, not knowing the quality of his guest, wished to do this as act of hospitality.
for thee
Heb. before thee.

Verse 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.
I will not
As I am a spiritual being, I subsist not by earthly food; and cannot partake of your bounty.
and if, etc
Rather, "but if thou wilt offer," etc.
unto thee
23, 6:26

Verse 18

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
Why askest
6, Genesis 32:29
secret
or, wonderful. It was because his name was secret that Manoah wished to know it. But the angel does not say it was secret, but hoo pailee, "it is wonderful;" the very character given to the Messiah: "His name shall be called pailai, Wonderful," Isa 9:6.

Verse 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.
took
6:19,20, 1 Kings 18:30-38
did wondrously
He acted according to His Name: He, being wonderful, performed wonders; probably causing fire to arise out of the rock and consume the sacrifice, and then ascended in the flame.
6:21, 1 Kings 18:38

Verse 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.
when the flame
2 Kings 2:11, Psalms 47:5, Hebrews 1:3
fell on
Genesis 17:3, Leviticus 9:24, 1 Chronicles 21:16,26, Ezekiel 1:26,28, Daniel 10:9, Matthew 17:6

Verse 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.
knew
6:22, Hosea 12:4,5

Verse 22

And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
We shall
Genesis 32:30, Exodus 33:20, Deuteronomy 4:38, 5:26, Isaiah 6:5
we have
John 1:18, 5:37

Verse 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.
his wife
Ecclesiastes 4:9,10, 1 Corinthians 12:21
he would not
Genesis 4:4,5, Psalms 86:17
he have shewed
Psalms 25:14, 27:13, Proverbs 3:32, John 14:20,23, 15:15

Verse 24

And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
A. M. 2849. B.C. 1155. An. Ex. Is. 336. Samson
Hebrews 11:32
the child
1 Samuel 3:19, Luke 1:80, 2:52

Verse 25

And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
the Spirit
3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 1 Samuel 11:6, Matthew 4:1, John 3:34
the camp of Dan
Heb. Mahaneh-dan, as ch. 18:12. between.
18:11, Joshua 15:33

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