And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
Israel falls again here, and God leaves them under Philistine rule for forty years. Two things set this fall apart from the ones before it: how long the punishment lasted, and how quietly the people took it.
Scripture says nothing here about what Israel did. The size of the punishment is the only comment God gives.
God gives us no details of this fresh fall, but we can tell what He thought of it by the weight of the rod He laid on His people; and the Philistines were the punishment. Nothing shows the state of Israel more plainly than this fact. Until now they had been held down by enemies from outside... Here we find the enemy settled inside Israel's own borders, destroying as he goes.
Earlier oppressions had felt long. This one set a record, and even the deliverer God sent did not finish the job.
There had never yet been a time when Israel was so enslaved... In the days of Gideon, seven years under an enemy seemed a long time, and we were right to think so. But here we hear of a far longer period under the Philistines. They were the fiercest and most stubborn of Israel's hostile neighbours, and all the more painful because they lived inside the border. For forty years the people groaned under their hard rule. We shall also find that Samson's feats of power, great as they were, in no way broke the neck of Philistine oppression.
The Philistines lived in the land God had given Israel, but they had arrived by a route of their own.
They came from Egypt (Gen. 10:13-14). They had left Egypt behind and reached the land God had promised to His people, but they had not come by His way. They took an easy short cut that let them avoid the Red Sea and the River Jordan. Those two crossings pictured deliverance and blessing through the death and resurrection of Christ, and they had no place in the Philistines' history... They are a picture of a Christianity made worldly, religion made acceptable to people who have not been born again.
Israel's earlier troubles at least drove the people to call on God. This time that cry is missing.
The people had fallen back into unfaithfulness, and now enemies inside the country held them down — the Philistines, who had settled in Israel's territory. This was the last stage in the story of decline. The children of Israel no longer cried to Jehovah. They accepted the situation and did not even want rescue from it (Judges 15:11). To go on living quietly as slaves, they tried to get rid of the man who came to set them free. A complete turning away from God was close at hand.
No one asked for rescue. So the rescue that follows traces back to God alone, and He set it going before Samson was born.
With Samson we see from the very start the sovereign grace that prepares the deliverance. The angel of the Lord announces his birth, and no one on man's side seems to have asked for it. He is the son of a woman who could not have children, and the preparation for his coming starts before his birth. That last point implies that there are still conditions to meet if deliverance is to come.
An enemy inside the camp calls for a different answer. One writer gives it in a single word.
Now what is the resource of the Lord's people at such a time? One word answers the question: Nazariteship. Today we should be marked by complete separation, and by a true, whole-hearted consecration to God.
A Nazarite lived under a vow of separation to God. The same writer notes that the vow did not always last a lifetime.
Under the law, when everything looked in order on the outside, the Nazarite vow lasted only for a time (Num. 6). In a time of ruin it became permanent, as we see in the example before us. Samson was a Nazarite from his mother's womb.
- Relapse. Israel fell away again, and this fall went deeper than any before it: never had the people been so enslaved.
- Rod. God records no details of the sin. The weight of the punishment is His comment on it — forty years, longer than any bondage before.
- Inside. This enemy was no raider from beyond the border but a settler within it, and one writer calls that the last stage of decline.
- Silence. The people no longer cried to the Lord. They preferred quiet slavery to freedom, and even tried to get rid of the man who came to free them.
- Grace. God moved first. He announced a deliverer to a woman who could not have children, before anyone asked, and the resource He gave His people was a life wholly separated to Himself.
And there was a certain man of Zoreah, of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and did not bear.
Israel has lived under Philistine rule for forty years, and this time no cry for help goes up. Against that silence, the story turns to one unknown household. The man comes from a tribe with a poor record, and his wife cannot have children.
In Judges the people usually cry out to God in their trouble, and He answers. This time there is no cry.
We read of fresh departure, but of no return nor cry to Jehovah. He does act toward them in goodness, and provides a deliverer. But the deliverance itself still depends on their repentance, so it cannot happen. Samson's victories bring, at most, only some relief from their distress. And he himself fails at the last and dies, though he kills more of the Philistines at his death than in his life.
The verse names the tribe before the man. Dan was not a promising choice.
In the case of Samson we see how everything shows God's hand working in sovereignty. He chooses the tribe of Dan, already disgraced as the first in Israel to fall into idolatry (Judges 18). He can do as it pleases Him. No one asked Him to, yet the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and announced the birth of this child — to her, who had been barren until then.
The names themselves carry meaning — the tribe, the town, and the man.
The predicted deliverer is of the family of Dan. Dan already speaks of the service of rule — a rule that must first of all be over oneself, if it is to bring blessing. Manoah is a man of Zorah, a name that reminds us of the sting of sin. His own name, "rest," already announces victory over that sting. That victory comes through submission: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Here is the Danite spirit from which the helper springs.
A childless woman receiving a promise is something the Bible returns to again and again, and one writer draws the common thread.
This time God chose to prepare a deliverer from the tribe of Dan, and He begins with the mother of the child to be born. The Angel of the Lord appeared to her, telling her that though she was barren, she would conceive and bear a son (v.3). The same was true of Sarah (Gen. 18:11-14), and later of Hannah (1 Sam. 1:2, 20), then also of Elizabeth, wife of Zacharias (Lk. 1:7, 13). In all such cases, does the Lord not seek to make it plain that the son born is to be in a special sense His?
The verse gives the husband's name but never hers, and she carried the added weight of being childless.
The angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, a Danite. She was not the one that men would have chosen. Even her name is not given. She was a barren woman — a reproach among the people of Israel, despised in the eyes of the other women. But this nameless, despised woman, from the lowest of Israel's tribes, was the vessel God chose. Through her He could work out His own will. So we see the great truth emphasized, that His ways are not the ways of men. "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing." That is the boast of a Christianity gone worldly. It walks by the flickering gleam of its own dim light. But "God chose what is foolish in the world... God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God," 1 Cor. 1:27-29.
When a whole nation stops listening, God still keeps a few who do listen.
In the middle of this hopeless situation, God set apart a godly remnant, and sent His messages to them. Manoah and his wife feared Jehovah, listened to His voice and spoke to one another (compare Mal. 3:16). They are a striking picture of the remnant — the Marys, Elizabeths, Annas, Zacharias and Simeons — who waited for the true Messiah, the Saviour of Israel.
The deliverer born to this home would be a Nazarite — someone set apart to God.
From Philistine bondage the deliverer is a Nazarite... For the Nazarite pictures the separation from the world that belongs to the true church. It is separation from the world's intoxicating joys, from its legal claims, and from its pollutions. Let that separation be lost, and all strength is lost. The conqueror becomes the slave. The clear sight of the judge becomes blindness. The history of Samson repeats itself. How many times has it been, in fact, repeated!
- Silence. Israel never turned back and never cried out. God still gave a deliverer, but full rescue waited on a repentance that never came.
- Sovereignty. No one asked Him, yet God passed over the likely choices and took the disgraced tribe of Dan. He can do as it pleases Him.
- Weakness. God chose a nameless, childless woman as His vessel. He picks what the world despises, so that no one can boast before Him.
- Remnant. A whole nation stopped listening. One couple still feared the Lord and talked together — that is what faith looks like in a ruined time.
- Separation. The deliverer's strength was Nazarite strength, held by separation. Lose the separation, and the conqueror becomes the slave.
And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold now, thou art barren and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.
Israel had lived under Philistine rule for forty years, and this time nobody cried for help. God moved anyway, and the first person He told was a woman with no name and no children.
In the book of Judges, rescue had always followed a cry of distress.
Because of Israel's further disobedience, the Lord brought them under bondage to the Philistines for forty long years (v. 1). In this case we are not told that Israel was broken enough to cry to God for deliverance. It seems that as time went on, Israel became less and less sensitive to the seriousness of their evil condition. But God nevertheless had His eye on His people.
Israel was not just silent. They had settled into the arrangement, and they turned on the man who came to break it.
The Israelites in this instance did not raise the cry for deliverance as on former occasions. They seem to have accepted the yoke and become contented with their lot. This became very evident when Samson began to deliver them, for they scolded him, saying: "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" They were so completely out of sympathy with all his efforts that they bound him with cords and handed him over to his foes.
The message names her barrenness before it names the son.
With Samson we see, from the very start, the sovereign grace which prepares the deliverance. The angel of the Lord announces his birth, with no apparent seeking on man's part. He is the son of a woman who is naturally barren, and the preparation for his coming begins before his birth. This last point implies that there are still conditions to be met if deliverance is to come.
Notice too what the verse leaves out. Her husband has a name; she does not.
The angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, a Danite. She was not the one that men would have chosen. Even her name is not given, and she was a barren woman — a reproach among the people of Israel and looked down on by the other women. But this nameless and despised woman of the smallest of Israel's tribes was the vessel chosen by God, through whom He could work out His own will. So we see the great truth emphasised, that His ways are not the ways of men… The woman received God's message in simple and unquestioning faith. Her weakness and reproach are made to stand out, so that it might be clear that this deliverance was to come from God, and not by the power of man. It was out of weakness, barrenness, and death that God was to bring strength and victory.
The text calls the visitor "the angel of the LORD." That title runs through the Old Testament for the One who brings God's mind to people.
The word for "messenger" is "angel," and this suggests a supernatural revealer of the mind of God. We find this often throughout the Old Testament, where the "angel" made known the will of God (see Judges 2:1; Judges 13:3). The "angel of Jehovah" is indeed His representative, so completely so that He is spoken of as Jehovah Himself.
In some of these appearances the Lord Himself is the speaker. The proof is in what He says.
In certain cases it is plainly the Lord who so presents Himself. See the instances of the Angel who spoke to Abraham… and again of the Angel who visited Manoah, bringing the news of the approaching birth of Samson. In each case the language the Angel used could only have been used by Jehovah Himself.
The son's vow begins with his mother. She must carry it before he can.
What marks a remnant at all times is Nazariteship — complete "separation to the Lord." This woman had to take Nazariteship upon herself, because she was the one God chose to present the promised deliverer to the people… The Nazariteship of Samson involved that of his mother. In order to honour the deliverer of Israel, his witnesses needed to carry his own character before the eyes of all. This is true at all times. If we do not show Christ down here in His character of complete separation to God, we are not witnesses for our Saviour.
The nation had stopped listening. God found a husband and wife who had not.
In the middle of this hopeless state of things, God separated a godly remnant and addressed His communications to them. Manoah and his wife feared Jehovah, listened to His voice and spoke to one another (compare Mal. 3:16) — a striking picture of the remnant — the Marys, Elizabeths, Annas, Zacharias and Simeons who waited for the true Messiah, the Saviour of Israel.
- Silence. Israel had grown comfortable under Philistine rule and never cried out. God's eye was still on them.
- Visit. Grace moves first. God announces the birth before anyone asks, through a messenger who speaks as the Lord Himself.
- Weakness. God picks a barren, unnamed woman from the smallest tribe. Out of weakness He brings strength and victory.
- Separation. The son's separation to God begins with his mother. Whoever presents God's deliverer must first carry his character.
- Remnant. When a whole nation stops listening, God speaks to the few who still do. Those who waited for the Messiah were such a few.
And now beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.
Israel lay under Philistine oppression when a messenger promised a childless woman a son. First, though, came rules for her own eating and drinking: the mother had to live as her son would live.
The kind of deliverer God raises up says something about the state of His people. One writer sees this lifelong separation as proof of how far Israel had drifted from God:
In the next chapter (Judges 13) we begin a new kind of instrument God raised up for His purpose. In this case the state of the people was such that God separates him to Himself as a Nazarite. There could be no stronger proof that the people, as a whole, were far from God. In all ordinary cases a Nazarite was someone who had taken a special vow of separation to God. But that vow lasted only a short time. Here it was an extraordinary Nazariteship, stretching through his whole life.
The ban is not on something shameful. Wine belongs to harvest, celebration and song, which is exactly why giving it up says so much:
Wine, the grape, is a figure of human joy and human strength. The harvest time, when they gathered the grapes and the juice burst from the vats, always meant celebration, songs and gladness. It was the time of joy... It comes at the high point of the year, when everything is ripe and ready to enjoy.
Giving up wine raises a question: where do joy and strength come from instead?
The Nazarite had to stay away from "wine and strong drink." These would point to what gratifies, stimulates and excites the flesh... As Nazarites we do not need the joys of men. We do not need the world to hold us up. Our joy and strength are in the Lord.
The second half of the command reaches beyond drink. This vow also differs from the law of separation in Numbers 6:
Compare Numbers 6:1-8, which chapter speaks of the vow as being voluntary. But God had decided this for Samson before his birth... Eating unclean meats would speak of indulging in unclean, sinful practices. Her character and actions would shape the son she was to have. We too have a responsibility not to be a bad influence on others.
Why do the restrictions fall on her at all? Because a witness has to carry the mark of the one he represents:
The Nazariteship of Samson involved that of his mother. To honour the deliverer of Israel, his witnesses had to carry the stamp of his own character where everyone could see it. This is true at all times. If we do not show Christ down here in His character of entire separation to God, we are not witnesses for our Saviour.
The account never names her, and the angel's message passes over her husband. One writer finds purpose in that silence:
It is to the woman, however, that the angel first appears, and we are not told her name. The angel reminds her of her barrenness, so that God's grace and power may stand out all the more. She herself is nothing. Her name does not matter, and the angel's message does not mention her husband's name either. Everything here is of God... What a blessing follows when God receives all the glory! Man admits that by nature he has forfeited everything, so that grace may be grace.
A separated calling can still be blurred by the company a person keeps:
Samson had to be a "Nazarite to God from the womb." He was to deliver God's people from the unholy oppression they were under. So he had to be completely separate from all the enjoyments among them. His mother is taught this, and trains him accordingly. Our early training has a special and lasting effect on our later life. By training I mean the company that surrounds us. Samson was a Nazarite, but he grew up close to the Philistines and at home among them. As a result, he never seems aware of the great moral contrast that should exist between a Nazarite and a Philistine.
- Cause — Israel had fallen far from God under the Philistines. So God called for separation that lasts a whole lifetime, not the short vow of ordinary cases.
- Gift — The deliverer starts in a barren womb, and the story never gives the mother a name. All the credit goes to God.
- Cost — She gives up wine, not sin. Wine stands for natural joy and strength, and unclean food goes too. Her joy and strength must come from the Lord instead.
- Reach — Numbers 6 makes the vow a free choice. Here God decides it before birth, and the mother's character shapes the son she will raise.
- Result — Separation kept is strength. Samson grew up at ease among the Philistines, and he never seemed to feel the difference between a Nazarite and a Philistine.
For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head; for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Israel had sunk so low under the Philistines that no one even cried to God for help. Yet God promised Manoah's wife a son set apart to Him from the womb, with hair no razor would touch, sent only to begin Israel's rescue.
Every earlier decline in Judges records Israel crying to the Lord. This one does not.
This is the sixth and last decline of Israel in this book, and the darkest period. The Philistines lorded it over Israel. This time we miss the words found in every earlier departure from Jehovah: "And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD." There is no cry here, and no return to the Lord. It seems the greatest indifference controlled the people, so that they had no desire to cry to the Lord. And when we come to the deliverance we find that it was an imperfect one. God announced Samson's work in one phrase: he would begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. And how did he end? He died as a captive of the Philistines.
A man took the Nazirite vow on himself, and only for a set time. Samson's case was different in two ways.
The name Nazirite means "a separated one." According to Numbers 6 a man might vow to separate himself to the Lord for a set period. If he did, he came under a threefold obligation, which he had to keep "all the days of his separation." The only case recorded in the Old Testament is Samson. He was to be a lifelong Nazirite from his birth, as we see in Judges 13:5. He did not take the vow on himself — God placed it on him, and his supernatural strength depended on his keeping it faithfully. We all know the story of how he was seduced away from it.
One writer explains what long hair on a man stood for.
Long hair separated the Nazirite, in figure, from self, his dignity, and all that goes with it. It was at the same time the token of dependence and dishonour (1 Cor. 11). The Nazirite's long hair announced in public that he had given up his dignity and personal rights as a man, so that he could devote himself to the service of God. What was glory for the woman was shame for him. The man born to this dignity set it aside; the man appointed to rule submitted to the Lord as a wife to her husband. Without this dependence there can be neither service for God nor power for it. What was a sign of weakness for the Nazirite became the source of his strength.
The words to God matter more than the list of things the boy had to avoid.
Nazariteship was the outstanding feature in the man who was to overthrow the power of the Philistine. Twice over in the announcement to Manoah's wife the angel of the Lord stated: the child shall be a Nazirite to God. A Nazirite had to be separate from certain things. But what he was separated to mattered more than all of this. He was to be "to the Lord," a devoted vessel for the service of God.
God promised a start, not a finish.
Samson had in him the Spirit of Nazariteship, that is, separation to the Lord. Note it well, my reader: he was raised up to "begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines." He would only start the work, for he was not Christ! He might "begin" the work; the true David alone could finish it. Note too that his name, Samson, means "Sun-like," from Shemesh — the "Sun" of Righteousness Himself.
How far does Samson picture Christ? One writer limits the likeness to his mission.
Samson, the Nazirite, is hardly a type of Christ except in his mission (Judges 13:5). He is rather a picture of the testimony that the church of God gives. That testimony stands in separation from the world, in the power of the Spirit, and in communion with the Lord. His history, though full of acts of power, is still one of the saddest accounts in the word. Compare his Nazariteship with that of Christ, and how striking Samson's shortfall appears!
The rule holds beyond Samson.
Samson is the only person in Israel spoken of as a Nazirite, and his being "a Nazirite to God from the womb" was the secret of his great strength. Separation to God is the secret of spiritual strength. Whenever a man gives up moral separation, he loses spiritual power and the sense of the Lord's support.
- Grace first. Israel never cried for help this time. God announced a deliverer anyway. The rescue started on His side, not theirs.
- Grace given, not earned. Samson never chose the vow. God placed it on him before birth, and his strength hung on keeping it.
- Grace worn openly. The uncut hair was a public surrender of a man's dignity and rights: weakness by nature, strength before God.
- Grace aimed somewhere. He was separated to God, a vessel for His service; what he was separated from mattered less than who he was for.
- Grace unfinished. God promised him a beginning only. The full rescue waited for another, and Samson died a prisoner of the enemy he came to break.
And the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very terrible; but I did not ask him whence he was, neither did he tell me his name.
Israel had lived under Philistine rule for forty years. Then a stranger walked up to a childless woman and told her she would have a son. She went to her husband with the news. Her report describes a visitor she could not identify. His face frightened her, and He left no name behind.
Nothing in the chapter records anyone praying for a deliverer. The visit arrives entirely from God's side.
From the very start, Samson's story shows us the sovereign grace that prepares the deliverance. His birth is announced by the angel of the Lord, apart from any apparent seeking on man's part. He is the son of a woman naturally barren, and the preparation for his coming comes before his birth. This last point implies that there are still conditions to be met if deliverance is to come.
Her barrenness is not an obstacle to the plan; it is part of it. One writer puts the point sharply:
She received God's message in simple, unquestioning faith. Her weakness and shame are made to stand out. This makes it clear that the deliverance was to come from God, and not by the power of man. It was out of weakness, barrenness, and death that God was to bring strength and victory.
She calls Him "a man of God" and compares His face to an angel's. Commentators read this appearing as God Himself coming in visible form.
It is true that in Old Testament times there were heavenly visitors to earth, who appeared as angels. In certain cases it is plainly the Lord who presents Himself this way. Take the Angel who spoke to Abraham. Abraham recognised who He was when the doom of the cities of the plain was announced. Take the Man who wrestled with Jacob at the brook Jabbok. Take again the Angel who visited Manoah with the news that Samson was about to be born. In each case the language the Angel used could only have been used by Jehovah Himself.
The name He held back here is given later in the chapter. One writer ties the answer to Isaiah's prophecy:
The messenger, the Angel of the Lord, is the One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush — Jehovah Himself. When asked "What is your name?" He answers: "It is Wonderful" (Isaiah 9:6).
Her own words admit two gaps: she did not ask where He came from, and He did not tell her His name. Commentators read her differently. One notes the simple faith with which she took the message. Another reads her admission as a measure of how little she knew God.
This poor woman had very little understanding. She did not know where the angel came from or who He was. She did not even ask Him. That shows how slight her acquaintance with God was. The presence of the God of promises did not give her confidence. It frightened her. All she saw in the angel's face was something "very terrible."
(Older translations read "very terrible" where the ESV has "very awesome.")
Manoah prayed for a second visit so he could learn more. The answer he received put something else first.
Knowledge is not the first thing God requires. Manoah and his wife had genuine godliness. But neither that nor knowledge is enough to keep us in the middle of the ruin. What they needed before knowledge was true personal separation to God.
She did not keep the encounter to herself. Her report sent her husband to prayer.
The woman then came to her husband, Manoah, to tell him of this unusual visit and the message given her by the Angel. Manoah was impressed, but felt it a heavy responsibility to raise a son who was to have a special place in Israel. So he prayed that God would send the Angel back to teach them how to care for and train their son. God answered this request by the Angel appearing again to the woman while she was alone.
- Unsought. No one asked for a rescuer. Sovereign grace began the deliverance before the deliverer was born.
- Unnamed. She could only call Him a man of God with an angel's face. Commentators say this was the Lord Himself. The name He held back is given later: "Wonderful."
- Unknown. Her honest report shows how little she knew Him. His presence frightened her; it did not reassure her.
- Unhurried. Manoah asked for more information. God pressed separation to Himself first, not a fuller explanation.
- Unkept. She did not hold the news back but carried it home, and a praying household received a second visit.
And he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son; and now drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not anything unclean; for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb to the day of his death.
Manoah's wife repeats the messenger's words to her husband. She adds one detail: the boy's separation will last his whole life. Why does God set a man apart before he is born? And what happens when that man lets the separation go?
God now raises up a new kind of deliverer, and that difference says something about the nation's state.
In Judges 13 we begin a new kind of instrument God raised up for His purpose. The state of the people was such that God separates him to Himself as a Nazarite. You could not ask for stronger proof that the people, as a whole, were far from God. Normally a Nazarite was someone who had taken a special vow of separation to God, but only for a short time. Here it was an extraordinary Nazariteship, stretching through his whole life.
When God's people have accepted the rule of their enemies, one road back remains open.
When God's people lose the truth of their calling, and through unfaithfulness submit to the rule of the enemy, only one thing gives power: Nazariteship — entire separation to God... Samson was raised up to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. He could only fulfil that mission by being separated to God from his birth, by staying apart from the joys of human life and from all the defilements of the world, and by keeping complete subjection to God's authority and dependence on His strength.
The title itself carries the meaning, and the meaning stings. (Older translations spell it "Nazarite".)
The very word "Nazarite" means separation. How it cuts, that word "separation"; how it hurts; how self-righteous it sounds. But God says that true victory for His people must come on the lines of Nazariteship — separation from the very things the world counts absolutely necessary.
Numbers 6 describes a vow a person takes up for a set time and then lays down. Samson's case reverses the order: God announced the separation before Samson could agree to it.
In Numbers 6 Nazariteship is a vow of separation to the Lord for a particular time and purpose. When the time ended, the Nazarite kept the prescribed rites and returned to the ordinary life of one of God's people. He therefore pictures someone called out for special service. In the power of the Holy Spirit, such a person rises above the claims and enjoyments of nature. He gives up his name and place among men. Nothing distracts or entangles him, so he walks the path of holiness completely at the Lord's disposal. God marked Samson out for a particular mission. But this came before his birth, so he pictures something wider: Christians in general. They are set apart to God from the very start, whatever position they may finally have to occupy.
The instructions about wine and unclean food in this verse fall on her, not on the child.
This woman had to take Nazariteship upon herself, because she was the vessel chosen by God to present the promised deliverer to the people... The Nazariteship of Samson involved that of his mother. To honour the deliverer of Israel, his witnesses had to carry the stamp of his own character where everyone could see it. This is true at all times. If we do not show Christ down here in His character of entire separation to God, we are not witnesses for our Saviour.
Samson's uncut hair looks like an arbitrary rule until you watch what happens when it goes.
Samson's strength was a mystery to the Philistines... But that great strength depended entirely on his consecration as a Nazarite. When his hair was cut off, he became as weak as a child: even a woman, Delilah, was then stronger than he.
Samson kept the position described in this verse. He did not keep the walk that belongs to it.
A child can be a Nazarite; but this is the work of God. We have two examples of Nazarites from birth. One went on blamelessly, the other failed sadly: John the Baptist and Samson... Samson served God, and did great things too. But he also sought and did his own will, so his life ended with him as a prisoner... So you see it is not everything to be in the place of a Nazarite. There must be self-denial and patient perseverance in the ways of God.
- Separation begins in ruin. The nation as a whole had drifted far from God, so He set one man apart for life. An extraordinary collapse called for an extraordinary separation.
- Separation is the word. "Nazarite" means separated — separation from the very things the world counts necessary.
- Separation is given, not chosen. The Numbers 6 vow was temporary. Samson's began in the womb — a picture of believers marked out for God from the start.
- Separation spreads. The mother lived under the same rules. Those who present the deliverer must carry his character.
- Separation is strength. Samson's power rested on his consecration. But holding the place without self-denial ended in captivity, not victory.
Then Manoah prayed to Jehovah, and said, Ah Lord! let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, I pray thee, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
A messenger from God promised Manoah's wife a son with a special place in Israel. Manoah's first move was not celebration but prayer — he asked God to send the visitor back and teach them how to raise the boy.
Manoah had not seen the messenger himself. He had only his wife's report, and he prayed on it.
There was real faith in God's word, and a true desire to know the mind of God. In answer to this prayer, the angel of the Lord returns to Manoah's wife, who hurried to call her husband.
Manoah did not pray out of curiosity. The job in front of him felt bigger than he was.
Manoah was impressed, but felt it a heavy responsibility to train a son who was to have a special place in Israel. He prayed therefore that God would send the Angel back to teach them how to care for or train their son (v. 8). God answered this prayer: the Angel appeared again to the woman while she was alone.
Commentators read Manoah differently. Some see plain faith. Others see a man eager to hear it all over again, who learned nothing his wife had not already been told.
Manoah had prayed that the Lord would send the messenger a second time, and He in grace grants the request. But notice, when the angel comes he comes to her — he always comes to weakness — and she goes and calls for her husband. When he comes, notice that Manoah is very anxious to hear all about it over again. He gets no more than his wife had already received: simple instructions about Nazariteship.
Both readings agree on the main fact: God listened. As one writer puts it, husband and wife together brought the matter to God, and God answered.
The woman then tells her husband of the angel's visit, and they both plead with Jehovah, Manoah especially, that the man of God might be sent again. Jehovah listens, and His angel appears to the woman, who calls her husband, and both see the angel as he repeats his message with its solemn command.
Manoah asked what to do with the child. The reply pointed back to his wife and to the rules she had already been given. That redirection is the heart of the chapter.
Manoah himself, a man of sincere piety, had little understanding, but he wanted more. He wished to know "what to do with the child" (v. 8), and then "what is his work" (v. 12). The angel of Jehovah did not answer his questions. Instead he said: "Of all that I said to the woman let her beware… All that I commanded her let her observe" (vv. 13, 14). Why? Because knowledge is not the first thing God asks of us. Manoah and his wife had true piety. But neither knowledge nor piety is enough to keep us while everything around is in ruin. What they needed before knowledge was true personal separation to God.
Nazariteship means a life set apart to God. In Samson's case it was to last his whole life, and one writer ties that to the state God's people were in.
Separation from what an Israelite was normally allowed was not only commanded but made lifelong in Samson's case. I cannot help believing this is significant of what was due to God because of the state His people were then in.
The angel gave no training plan. What He repeated instead landed on the mother.
The Angel of the Lord, however, did not give any more information than He had given to Manoah's wife. He does not say anything about the boy's training. Why not? Because the boy should be trained just as any other boy should be trained. But He does stress the responsibility of the mother. She was not to eat anything that came from the vine, or drink wine, or eat anything unclean (vv. 13-14). This is a striking witness that the character and actions of a mother will have great influence over her children.
Manoah's instinct was to ask God how to do this. Every parent needs the same instinct.
We are not called to make them anything. We are simply called to do our duty by them, and leave results to God. We are instructed and commanded to bring up our children "in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." When is this bringing up to begin? When are we to start the sacred work of training our little ones? Surely at the beginning. The very moment we enter a relationship, we enter also the responsibility that relationship brings… It is true — and thank God for it — that His grace is enough for us in this as in everything else. And "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."
- Faith. Manoah had only second-hand news of a promise. He prayed on it anyway — real faith in God's word, and a real desire to know God's mind.
- Weight. He felt that raising this son was a heavy responsibility. He would not try it on guesswork.
- Grace. God sent the messenger back, and sent him to the wife first — God comes to weakness.
- Separation. Manoah got nothing beyond what his wife already had. Knowledge is not the first thing God asks of us; separation to Him is.
- Duty. Parents cannot make their children anything. They can start at the beginning, do their duty, ask God for wisdom, and leave the results to Him.
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the Angel of God came again to the woman whilst she sat in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.
Manoah learned of the visitor only second-hand, from his wife, and he asked God to send the man back to teach them how to raise the promised son. Verse 9 is the answer: God listened, and the messenger came again — not to the man who prayed, and not to the house, but to the woman, alone in the field.
One writer traces the prayer back to its cause:
Manoah was impressed, but felt it a heavy responsibility to train a son who was to have a special place in Israel. He prayed therefore that God would send the Angel back to teach them how to care for or train their son (v. 8). God answered this request by the appearance of the Angel again to the woman while she was alone. She ran to call her husband, who came at once (vv. 9-11).
Two things lay behind the prayer:
There was real faith in God's word, and a true desire to know the mind of God. In answer to this prayer, the angel of the Lord returns to Manoah's wife, who made haste to call her husband.
Manoah asked God to send the messenger to them. The messenger came again to her.
Manoah had prayed that the Lord would send the messenger a second time, and He in grace grants the request. But notice, when the angel comes he comes to her — he always comes to weakness — and she goes and calls for her husband.
Manoah was slower than his wife to be sure of what he had heard. God met that uncertainty with a second visit:
It is the woman who receives the divine communication most readily. Manoah, godly as he is, does not feel so sure of its character and meaning. But he looks to God, and is confirmed by the angel's second visit. This is still to the woman first, but she may call her husband, so that he too may hear from the angel's lips.
Verse 9 calls Him "the angel of God." Manoah did not yet see who stood in front of him:
Manoah as yet recognizes only a human messenger, even while he recognizes the message… He cannot yet understand, and would learn the name of the speaker, so that when His word comes true they may give Him honor as a man. So the angel asks why he should ask after His name. Yet He adds what might well justify the question: His name is "Wonderful," a name which Isaiah later gives to Immanuel (Isaiah 9:6). And here, indeed, God and man are brought together in one Person.
Manoah asked to be taught. The angel gave him back the instruction his wife already had — the Nazirite rules of a life set apart to God — and one writer draws out why:
Instead of answering his questions, the angel of Jehovah said to him: "Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe." Why? Because knowledge is not the first thing God asks for. Neither knowledge, nor even the true piety of Manoah and his wife, is enough to keep us while everything around us is in ruin. What they needed before knowledge was true personal separation to God — a separation patterned and measured by the Nazirite life of the one who was about to appear.
The chapter never gives her a name:
Here is a poor nameless woman, nameless helplessness; what could be weaker than that?… The word of God reaches nameless helplessness. That living word assures her that life and power will come through her — the nameless one, whose weakness alone appeals to God. When did weakness ever appeal to Him in vain? When did a sense of utter helplessness ever lay itself at God's feet without His making use of it? It is our strength, our energy, that He has to break to pieces. It is our helplessness that He can use, our utter worthlessness.
- Heard. Manoah prayed out of real faith in God's word and a genuine desire to know God's mind about the child — and God listened.
- Answered. God answered in grace, but on His own terms: the messenger came back to the wife, not to the husband who prayed.
- Weakness. He always comes to weakness. God keeps visiting a woman with no name. He never turns away helplessness laid at His feet.
- Confirmed. The second visit steadied Manoah, who still saw only a man — though the name of his visitor was "Wonderful," God and man brought together in one Person.
- Separation. Manoah got no new information, only the old instruction repeated. Knowledge is not the first thing God asks for; separation to Himself comes first.
Then the woman hasted and ran, and informed her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, that came to me that day.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Manoah rose up and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Art thou the man that didst speak to the woman? And he said, I am.
Manoah had asked God to send the man of God back to teach him and his wife how to raise the promised son. This verse is the answer to that prayer, and his opening question shows how little he still knew about the visitor in front of him.
The first message came to his wife while she was alone. Manoah asked God to send it again, for both of them.
When the angel of God spoke to the wife of Manoah about the birth of Samson, Manoah prayed to the Lord. He said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born" (Judges 13:8). There was real faith in God's word, and a true desire to know the mind of God. In answer to this prayer, the angel of the Lord returns to Manoah's wife, who hurried to call her husband.
God answered the prayer, but the messenger went to the wife again. Manoah had to walk to where she was.
Manoah had prayed that the Lord would send the messenger a second time, and He in grace grants the request. But notice, when the angel comes he comes to her — always comes to weakness — and she goes and calls her husband. When he comes, notice that Manoah is very anxious to hear it all over again. He gets no more than his wife had already received: simple instructions about being a Nazirite.
Manoah's question treats the visitor as a man. Writers compare this visit with other Old Testament appearances of the same kind.
It is true that in Old Testament times there were heavenly visitors to earth who appeared as angels. In certain cases it is plainly the Lord who presents Himself this way. See the Angel who spoke to Abraham about the doom of the cities of the plain, and how Abraham recognised who He was. See the Man who wrestled with Jacob at the brook Jabbok. See again the Angel who visited Manoah with the news of Samson's coming birth. In each case the Angel spoke words that only the Lord Himself could have spoken.
The reply is short: "I am."
Manoah wanted instructions: what to do with the boy, and what the boy would do. The answer sends him back to what his wife must avoid.
Manoah himself, a sincere and godly man, had little understanding, but he wanted more. He wished to know "what to do with the child" (v. 8), then "what shall he do" (v. 12). Instead of answering his questions, the angel of the Lord said to him: "Of all that I said to the woman, let her beware"... Why? Because knowledge is not the first thing God requires. Neither knowledge nor even the true godliness Manoah and his wife had is enough to keep us standing in the middle of the ruin. What they needed before knowledge was true personal separation to God.
Another writer points to where the instruction went instead:
The Angel of the Lord, however, did not give any more information than He had given to Manoah's wife. He says nothing about the boy's training. Why not? Because the boy should be trained just as any other boy should be trained. But He does stress the responsibility of the mother. She was not to eat anything that came from the vine, nor to drink wine, nor eat anything unclean (vv. 13-14). This is a striking witness that the character and actions of a mother will have great influence over her children.
The nation was in ruin. God's word went to a husband and wife who prayed and listened together.
In the middle of this hopeless state of things, God set apart a godly remnant and addressed His communications to them. Manoah and his wife feared the Lord, listened to His voice, and spoke to one another. They are a striking picture of the remnant — the Marys, Elizabeths, Annas, Zechariahs and Simeons — who waited for the true Messiah, the Saviour of Israel.
- Asked — Manoah prayed for the messenger to come back, and behind it lay real faith and a true desire to know God's mind.
- Answered — God sent the visitor back, but to the wife again. Grace comes to weakness, and Manoah had to follow her to it.
- Approached — He asked, "Are you the man?" He was speaking to One whose words only the Lord could speak.
- Answered less — He got no new information, only the call to separation. Knowledge is not the first thing God asks for.
- Together — God set apart a couple who feared Him and spoke to one another, and gave them His message for a ruined nation.
And Manoah said, When thy words then come to pass, what shall be the child's manner and his doing?
Israel had been under Philistine rule for forty years when an angel promised a childless woman a son set apart to God. When the messenger came back at her husband's request, Manoah asked about the boy: what would his life be, and what would his work be?
The older English rendering makes Manoah sound like a man asking for a childcare manual. One writer, reviewing the translation, argues the Hebrew is doing something different:
Judges 13:12, Manoah's question, as given by the Authorised Version ("How shall we order the child? and how shall we do to him?") fails to convey what he really did say. "What shall be the manner (condition) of the child, and his work?"
So the question is not about method. Manoah wants to know what this child is to be, and what he is to do.
The question did not come from idle curiosity. Behind it lay a prayer:
Manoah was impressed, but felt it a heavy responsibility to train a son who was to have a special place in Israel. He prayed therefore that God would send the Angel back to teach them how to care for or train their son (v. 8). God answered this request by sending the Angel again to the woman while she was alone. She ran to call her husband, who came at once, and he asked how the boy should be trained in view of his work.
Notice who God went to: the wife again, and not Manoah.
The messenger repeats what he told the wife. He says nothing about how to raise the boy:
The Angel of the Lord however did not give any more information than He had to Manoah's wife. He does not say anything about the boy's training. Why not? Because the boy should be trained just as any other boy should be trained. But He does emphasize the responsibility of the mother. She was not to eat anything that came from the vine, or drink wine, or eat anything unclean (vv. 13-14). This is a striking witness that the character and actions of a mother will have great influence over her children.
The father asked about the child; the answer came back about the parent.
Another writer sees an order of priorities in that refusal. Manoah was sincere and wanted to understand more. But understanding was not God's first concern:
Manoah himself, a sincerely godly man, had little understanding, but he wanted more. He wished to know "what to do with the child" (v. 8), then, "what shall he do" (v. 12, margin). Instead of answering his questions, the angel of the Lord said to him: "Of all that I said to the woman let her beware…" Why? Because knowledge is not the first thing that God requires. Neither knowledge nor even true godliness, such as Manoah and his wife had, is enough to keep us in the middle of the ruin. What they needed before knowledge was true personal separation to God — a separation patterned and measured by the Nazirite separation of the one who was about to appear.
The same writer explains why the mother had to share her son's Nazirite life — the life of a person set apart to God:
Samson's Nazirite separation involved his mother's too. To honour the deliverer of Israel, his witnesses had to show everyone the mark of his own character. This is true at all times.
Manoah did not realise whose instructions he was receiving. He asked for a name, and the answer settled it:
Manoah asked Him His Name, so that he might honour Him when the child was born, and the answer was, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful (or secret)?" This was nothing less than one of the appearances of God in the Old Testament, the Lord being present in the form of an angel.
The instruction Manoah asked for was definite, and God gave it to the parents, not to the boy. One writer draws out what that meant later on:
God had instructed his parents entirely apart from him. Their failure was their own, separate from Samson's failure. What answer could Manoah give to the angel of the Lord who had given him such definite instruction as to how they should bring him up?
- Ask. Manoah's question is about what his son will be and what his work will be — a father wanting God's mind, not a technique.
- Answered. God heard the prayer and sent the messenger back a second time.
- Redirected. The messenger gave no new instruction about the boy. He turned instead to the mother's own conduct, because a mother's character shapes her child.
- Separation first. God's first requirement was not knowledge, and not even sincere godliness. It was real personal separation to Him — measured by the separation of the son who was coming.
- Sobering. God gave clear instruction to both parents. Their later failure did not come from ignorance.
And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware
Manoah had just asked how to raise the promised son. The angel's reply gives him nothing new; it sends him back to what his wife had already heard.
Manoah prayed for a second visit so that he could hear the instruction himself. What he received was the same message over again.
When he comes you notice that Manoah is very anxious to know all about it over again. He gets no more than his wife had received before — simple instructions about Nazariteship.
Another writer draws out why the angel says nothing about how to bring the boy up.
The Angel of the Lord, however, did not give any more information than He had given to Manoah's wife. He says nothing about the boy's training. Why not? Because the boy should be brought up just like any other boy. But He does emphasise the responsibility of the mother.
Manoah asked his questions in sincerity. One writer says God wanted something from him before knowledge.
Instead of answering his questions, the angel of Jehovah said to him: "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful… all that I commanded her let her observe." Why? Because knowledge is not the first thing God requires. Neither knowledge nor even true piety, such as was found in Manoah and his wife, is enough to keep us while everything around is in ruin. What they needed before knowledge was true personal separation to God — a separation whose pattern and measure was the Nazirite life of the son who was about to appear.
A Nazirite was someone set apart to God by a vow, with the rules listed in Numbers 6. One writer checks those rules against what the mother was told.
She is told not to drink wine or strong drink and not to eat anything unclean. So she is commanded, as the mother of the Nazirite, the same things that apply to the Nazirite himself in Numbers 6. But one thing addressed to the Nazirite in Numbers 6 is not mentioned for his mother — that she should let her hair grow long. Why not? Did God forget her? No, God did not forget her; God assumes that a woman's hair grows freely, without being cut.
Each restriction pictures something she is to hold back from, and the effect reaches past her.
Wine speaks of exhilarating joy, and certainly a mother should give up any self-indulgent living (1 Tim. 5:6). Eating unclean meats would speak of indulging in unclean, sinful practices. She was to have a son who would be influenced by her character and actions. We too have a responsibility not to influence others badly.
Ridout names a second thing wine stands for.
Wine, the grape, is a figure of human joy and human strength… wine is a figure, too, of stimulus, that which stimulates the natural man. People speak of being strengthened as with wine — the blood racing, every muscle tense under a stimulus that has given, sadly, a false strength. That is how wine speaks of human joy and human strength.
These rules did not end with the mother. One writer shows what hung on Samson's own keeping of them.
There was one separated to God, set apart for Jehovah, and therefore placed under defined obedience; his hair was not to be cut. While he kept the command, his strength stayed with him. There might have seemed little connection between uncut hair and all-conquering strength. But God was in it. A God we obey and honour is a God of strength to us. It was God's strength, given to one who so definitely recognised Him; it was a gift whose keeping hung on obedience. The point I insist on is this: the sign of his separation to obedience was the hinge on which the possession of that given strength turned. When the sign was there, so was the strength; when it went, the strength went with it.
Because the instruction was given to them directly, their obedience was their own matter — not something that stood or fell with their son's later conduct.
God had instructed his parents quite apart from him. It was a failure on their part, entirely separate from Samson's failure. What answer could Manoah give to the angel of the Lord, who had given him such definite instruction about how they should bring him up?
- Asked. Manoah wanted a rule for the child. The angel gave him back the rule his wife already had, and no more.
- Answered. God asked first for separation, not information. Sincere piety alone would not keep them.
- Shared. The mother lived under the Nazirite's own rules. Her character would shape the son she carried.
- Held. Samson's power was a gift. Obedience to the sign of his separation held it in place, and when the sign went, the strength went.
- Accountable. The parents answered to God for their own obedience, whatever their son became.
she shall not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither shall she drink wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean all that I commanded her shall she observe.
Manoah had asked the Angel a practical question: what should they do with the boy who was coming? The Angel gives no new instructions and only repeats what his wife had already heard — so why does God answer a question with a command?
One writer treats that silence as the point of the passage.
He wanted to know "what to do with the child" (v. 8), then "what shall he do" (v. 12, margin). Instead of answering his questions, the angel of the Lord said to him: "Of all that I said to the woman let her beware… all that I commanded her let her observe" (vv. 13, 14). Why? Because knowledge is not the first thing that God requires. Neither it, nor even true piety, such as was found in Manoah and his wife, is enough to keep us in the middle of the ruin. What they needed before knowledge was true personal separation to God. That separation had its pattern and its measure in the Nazariteship of the one who was about to appear.
Another writer notes what the Angel leaves out, and where He puts the weight.
The Angel of the Lord however did not give any more information than He had to Manoah's wife. He does not say anything about the boy's training. Why not? Because the boy should be trained just as any other boy should be trained. But He does emphasize the responsibility of the mother.
A Nazarite was a person set apart to God by a vow, with rules laid out in Numbers 6. One writer lines up that list with what the Angel told Samson's mother.
In verses 4, 7, and 14, she is told not to drink wine or strong drink and not to eat anything unclean. So she is commanded, as the mother of the Nazarite, the same things that apply to the Nazarite himself in Numbers 6. But Numbers 6 addresses one thing to the Nazarite that is never mentioned to his mother, who should let her hair grow long. Why not? Did God forget her? No, God did not forget her, but God assumes that a woman's hair grows freely, without being cut.
Why should her diet matter for his calling? One writer answers by pointing to what she was chosen to carry.
This woman had to take Nazariteship on herself. She was the vessel chosen by God to present the promised deliverer to the people… The Nazariteship of Samson involved that of his mother. To honour the deliverer of Israel, his witnesses had to carry the stamp of his own character where everyone could see it. This is true at all times. If we do not show Christ here in His character of complete separation to God, we are not witnesses for our Saviour.
The verse names the vine and it names wine. Are they two words for one thing? One writer answers from the Hebrew of the matching rule in Numbers 6.
In Numbers 6, gephen — the regular word for the vine — appears, and so does yayin, which also appears in Judges 13:14. Yayin is not a synonymous filler; it is there for greater accuracy. It is true that gephen alone is the general Hebrew term for "vine." Still, yayin is clearly added here, because it conveys not the same idea but another one, completing and defining the sense.
The ban covers the whole plant, not just the drink. So what is dangerous about wine?
Our joy comes from a purer spring than the wine vat. Our strength comes from a mightier source than anything that merely stimulates nature. By wine, Scripture does not mean the literal, material thing. It means whatever stimulates and stirs up the flesh. One can be a complete teetotaler about wine, and yet be absolutely under its power, spiritually speaking. We have to avoid everything that simply gives fleshly energy, fleshly stimulus, or fleshly excitement in the things of God.
Why these bans at all? One writer starts with how Samson came under them, then reads what wine and unclean food stand for.
Numbers 6:1-8 speaks of the vow as being voluntary. But God had decided this for Samson before his birth… Wine speaks of exhilarating joy, and certainly a mother should give up any kind of "living in pleasure" (1 Tim. 5:6, older wording). Eating unclean meats would speak of indulging in unclean, sinful practices. She was to have a son who would be influenced by her character and actions. We too have a responsibility not to influence others badly.
- Separation first. Manoah asked what to do. God repeated a command instead, because separation comes before knowledge.
- Separation shared. The mother took on her son's restrictions. The one who carried the deliverer had to carry his stamp.
- Separation exact. The ban reaches past the cup to the whole plant. The Hebrew has one word for the vine and another for wine.
- Separation inward. Wine pictures whatever stirs up the flesh. A person can drink nothing and still live on it.
- Separation seen. Her food was never a private matter. A mother's character and actions shape her child, and our lives shape others.
And Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, and we will make ready a kid of the goats for thee.
Manoah has just heard the promise of a son repeated, and his response is to keep his visitor a little longer over a meal. He still thinks his guest is only a man of God, and the reply he gets changes everything he planned.
Manoah's offer of food comes from real piety, but it misreads who is standing in front of him. The instructions Manoah wanted repeated concerned Nazariteship — the life of someone set apart for God. One writer follows what he does when the messenger returns:
When he comes, notice how anxious Manoah is to hear all about it over again. He learns no more than his wife had already heard — simple instructions about Nazariteship. Then he bustles about to do something religious. There has to be a feast. He is going to bring this messenger, though he calls him a man of God, rather down to his own level. He will share his hospitality with him. He also wants to know his guest's name, so that he may honour him once all these things come true.
The reply in the next verse turns the young goat from a dinner into a sacrifice. The reason lies in who the visitor is:
Manoah was clearly a God-fearing man, and he wanted to prepare a meal for the Angel. But the Angel told him He would not eat his food; yet if he wanted to offer a burnt offering, he must offer it to the Lord (vv. 15-16). The Angel was the Lord Himself, but Manoah did not know this. No one may bring an offering to a mere man or a mere angel.
The refusal is not a rebuff. It moves Manoah out of the role of host into something higher:
So far Manoah recognizes only a human messenger, even while he recognizes the message. The angel simply insists on obedience to the word already given. When Manoah wants to entertain him, the angel will take nothing from him as a man. Instead the angel tells him to offer a burnt offering to Jehovah. Like Gideon, this makes Manoah a priest to the Lord. God rebukes the believer's unbelief by bringing him into closer intimacy. He turns him from man to God, and puts him in a place where he may approach as a priest.
The particular offering matters. Manoah wanted to give his visitor a share of the meal. The burnt offering gives man no share at all:
In this offering of Manoah and his wife we see the burnt offering. It is Christ in all His blessed perfection — wholly burnt, a sweet savour to God (Leviticus 1). The burnt offering was all for God; no man could eat any of it. But along with it God provided a grain offering (vv. 19, 23), and the priest could eat from that.
Manoah lays the young goat not on his own table but on a rock. The change of place carries its own lesson:
Manoah meant this as a simple act of hospitality, no doubt with a religious character. Now it becomes a sacrifice, to be placed on the rock. That rock reminds us of the Rock of ages, the only Rock, the one firm thing in a world as weak and unstable as water. It is on the Rock, Christ Jesus. The feast is not spread on Manoah's table. It is placed on the enduring Rock. That is the only basis of relationship, and the only basis of power for anyone who is to be a Nazarite and a witness for God.
Manoah asked for a name and for more instruction. He got neither until he had made the offering. Another writer sees this order as deliberate:
The starting point of these truths is the sacrifice. Manoah was more intelligent than Gideon (compare Judges 6:19). He took the kid with the grain offering and offered them on a rock to Jehovah. The cross is the foundation of all our knowledge as children of God. Manoah wanted to know many things which Jehovah could not reveal to him before the sacrifice.
- Offer. Manoah's instinct is generous but mistaken. He treats his visitor as a man of God on his own level, and prepares a meal for Him.
- Refusal. The Angel will not eat. An offering belongs to the Lord alone, never to a man or an angel.
- Redirection. Manoah loses the role of host and gains a better one. God turns him from man to God and gives him a priest's place of approach.
- Rock. The meal moves from his table to the rock. Hospitality becomes a burnt offering — wholly God's, with nothing kept back for man.
- Revelation. The answers come only after the sacrifice. The offering is the foundation of all Manoah wanted to know.
And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, Though thou shouldest detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou shalt offer it up to Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the Angel of Jehovah.
Manoah wants to keep his visitor longer and set food before Him, because he does not know who stands in front of him. The answer redirects everything: no meal, and the offering must go to the LORD.
Manoah's instinct was generous, and it was religious. But he was treating his guest as an equal — a good man to be thanked and fed.
When he comes you notice Manoah is very anxious to know all about it over again. He gets no more than his wife had got before, simple instructions about Nazariteship. Then he bustles about to do something religious. There has to be a feast. He is going to bring this messenger, though he calls him a man of God, onto his own level. He will share his hospitality. He wants to know the name of his guest, so that he may honour him after all this comes true.
The refusal was not rudeness. It guarded a line that must never be crossed.
Manoah was clearly a God-fearing man, and he wanted to prepare a meal for the Angel. But the Angel told him He would not eat his food, yet if he wanted to offer a burnt offering he must offer it to the LORD. The Angel was the Lord Himself, but Manoah did not know this, and an offering must not be made to a mere man nor a mere angel.
The correction did more than stop Manoah. It moved him nearer to God than he had aimed.
Manoah as yet recognises only a human messenger, even while recognising the message. The angel insists only on obedience to the word already given. When Manoah wants to entertain Him, He will not accept anything from him as a man. He tells him instead to offer a burnt offering to Jehovah. Like Gideon, Manoah is made a priest to the Lord in this way. God rebukes the believer's unbelief by bringing him into closer intimacy. He turns him from man to God, and puts him in a place where he may approach God as a priest.
The offering named here explains why the meal was refused.
This offering of Manoah and his wife sets the burnt offering before us. It is Christ in all His blessed perfection, wholly burnt, a sweet savour to God (Leviticus 1). The burnt offering was all for God, and no one could eat any of it. But along with it God provided a grain offering (vv. 19, 23), and the priest might eat of that.
And the place the food ended up was not the one Manoah had in mind.
Manoah meant it as a simple act of hospitality, religious no doubt. Now it becomes a sacrifice to lay on the rock. That rock reminds us of the Rock of ages, the only Rock, the only firm thing in a world as weak and unstable as water... It is on the Rock Christ Jesus. That is the only basis of communion with God. So the feast is not spread on Manoah's table. It is laid on the enduring Rock, the only basis of relationship, and the only basis of power for anyone who is to be a Nazarite and a witness for God.
The verse ends by telling us Manoah was in the dark. Commentators see the Son of God Himself in this visitor. Their proof is what He did with the sacrifice.
Who but the Son of God would have dared to identify Himself with the burnt offering, rising to God in its smoke and fragrance? This name "Secret" (pahlah) (v. 18) identifies Him with the Son, who was to be called "Wonderful" (pahlah) (Isaiah 9:6). As John found, it is a serious error to mistake an angel for the Lord (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). It is far worse to mistake the Son of God for an angel!
- Refused. The visitor would not eat Manoah's bread. An offering may go to no one but the LORD — not to a man, not to an angel.
- Redirected. The visitor turned Manoah's hospitality from man to God, and drew him nearer — into a priest's place before God.
- Replaced. The intended meal became a sacrifice: a burnt offering is wholly for God, with none of it eaten by man.
- Relocated. The food went onto the rock, not onto Manoah's table. Christ is the only firm basis of relationship with God in an unstable world.
- Revealed. Manoah did not know who stood there. The One who rises to God in the flame of the offering bears the name "Wonderful" — never to be mistaken for an angel.
And Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that when thy word cometh to pass we may do thee honour?
Manoah has just heard the promise of a son repeated. Now he asks the visitor for a name, so he can pay him honour once the promise comes true. He means well. But the name he asks for belongs to someone he has not yet recognised.
Manoah treats his visitor as a guest to be repaid, and the name is part of the repayment plan.
Then he bustles about to do something of a religious character. There has to be a feast. He is going to bring this messenger, though he calls him a man of God, rather on a level with himself. He will share his hospitality, and he wants to know the name of his guest, so that he may honour him after all these things have been fulfilled.
The problem is not the wish to honour, but where the honour is aimed.
However, Manoah wanted to know this man's name so that he could honour him after his word came to pass (v.17). So Manoah's thoughts were too much on the messenger, not on the Lord.
Manoah believed the message. He had not grasped who was speaking it, so the angel turned him from entertaining a guest to offering a sacrifice.
Manoah so far recognises only a human messenger, even while he recognises the message... When Manoah wants to entertain him, the angel refuses to receive anything from him as man, and tells him to offer a burnt offering to Jehovah instead... That turns him from man to God, and gives him a place where he may approach God as a priest does. But Manoah still cannot understand, and wants to learn the name of the speaker, so that when his word comes true they may honour him as they would a man. So the angel asks why he should ask after His name — and then adds something that might well justify the question: that it was "Wonderful," a name which Isaiah later gives us as Immanuel's (Isa. 9:6). And here, indeed, God and man are brought together in one Person.
The answer turns his question back on him. The Hebrew word behind it is also a name given to the promised Child in Isaiah's prophecy.
One of the names given to this Child is "Wonderful" [Hebrew pele, meaning something not to be grasped or understood]. The same word is used when the Angel of Jehovah (in this case clearly the Lord Himself) appeared to Manoah and his wife, prophesying the birth of a son.
This is not a dodge. And the same name in Isaiah settles who the visitor was.
Judges 13:18, "a secret," rather "wonderful," as in the margin. He does not conceal His name. See Isaiah 9:6, "His name shall be called Wonderful." So the One who appeared to Manoah was Jehovah Jesus.
Manoah gets his answer in a different order than he expected. The sacrifice comes first, then sight.
The starting point of these truths is the sacrifice... The cross is the foundation of all our knowledge as children of God. Manoah wanted to know many things which Jehovah could not reveal to him before the sacrifice. But once this foundation was laid, the angel did wondrously.
They gained more than a name that day.
There was no need for them to ask further about the Name of the One who is Wonderful, for He made known to them who He was. What divine secrets were theirs that day — secrets to sustain them in the difficult days in which they lived.
Manoah's promised son is to be a Nazirite — someone set apart to God by a vow. The hidden name points past that child to another.
It is as though the messenger simply points away from the outward Nazirite separation he had been telling them about. He points to One — not himself, the messenger of God, but One who is the "Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of eternity, the Prince of Peace," as Isaiah says in his ninth chapter. He puts Christ before them, and then, as though to emphasise it further, disappears in the sacrifice.
- Asking. Manoah meant well. But he aimed the honour at the messenger, not at the Lord, and treated Him as a guest on his own level.
- Withheld. The reply is no refusal. He names Himself "Wonderful" — a word for what cannot be grasped or understood.
- Named. Isaiah gives that same name to the promised Child. So commentators identify the visitor as Christ Himself.
- Shown. Talk could not give what the altar gave. Jehovah could reveal nothing to Manoah before the sacrifice.
- Pointed. The hidden name turns their eyes off outward separation and onto Christ. Once He makes Himself known, the question needs no answer.
And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, How is it that thou askest after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
Manoah asked the visitor's name so he could honour Him once the promised son arrived. The answer gave him no name, and that refusal became the clearest sign of who was standing there.
Older English Bibles rendered the word "secret," with "wonderful" in the margin. Writers who compared the two readings saw a disclosure, not a refusal — and a link to a well-known prophecy:
Judges 13:18, "a secret," rather "wonderful," so the margin. He does not conceal His name. See Isaiah 9:6, "His name shall be called Wonderful." So the One who appeared to Manoah was Jehovah Jesus.
The word itself means more than astonishment:
In English letters the Hebrew word is "Pehleh." It carries the idea of a riddle, a mystery no one can explain. It goes beyond anything the mind can work out, let alone put into words. His humanity cannot be searched out except through revelation. He is the miraculous entry of the eternal hand of God into time! The same word occurs in Scripture where the Angel of the Lord announced the birth of Samson to Manoah and his wife.
Manoah asked so he could honour the messenger later. One writer reads the reply as a correction:
However, Manoah wanted to know this man's name so that he could honour him after his word came to pass (v. 17). So Manoah's thoughts were too much on the messenger, not on the Lord. That is why the Angel asked him why he enquired about His name, seeing it is wonderful (v. 18). In other words, His name was above Manoah's understanding, a name to cause him to wonder.
What Manoah could not learn by asking, he learned by offering:
The starting point of these truths is the sacrifice. Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered them on a rock to Jehovah. The cross is the foundation of all our knowledge as children of God. Manoah wanted to know many things that Jehovah could not reveal to him before the sacrifice. But once this foundation was laid, the angel did a wonderful thing… They found in the fire of the sacrifice a new way, not opened before. It was a way for the representative of Jehovah to go up to Him.
The flame then showed who the visitor was:
As the flame of the sacrifice burned, the Angel of the Lord went up in the flame (vv. 19-20). What a demonstration to Manoah and his wife that this Visitor was no less than the Lord Himself! The Lord Jesus is the true burnt offering, the one that goes up in fire to God. So this visit is an Old Testament appearing of the Lord Jesus, before the time He actually became man.
The chapter has been about a boy set apart to God from birth — a Nazirite, whose vows included never cutting his hair. One writer sees the hidden name lifting the parents' eyes past that boy:
Is it not significant that the very name the messenger hides from him suggests the Name above every name? He does not say, "My name is secret," but "seeing it is wonderful." Does it not point to the very thing we have been saying about being a Nazirite? "His name shall be called Wonderful." Whose name? The name of the only Nazirite who ever lived… He puts Christ before them. Then, as if to stress it further, He disappears in the sacrifice.
Jacob had asked the same question long before, on the night he wrestled at the brook. The answer to Manoah goes further:
No doubt the mysterious wrestler was Christ — Jehovah — and while He would not tell His name… yet He blessed Jacob. A little later the angel foretold the birth of Samson to Manoah and his wife… The truth comes out more fully than in Genesis. "Wonderful" is just the word for Christ.
Why the delay? One writer answers it in the plainest terms:
The full revelation waited for the right time, when God would be manifested in flesh. It needs no explanation. It is plain enough to an ordinary mind. If the Lord Himself was to be fully made known to men, He had to come as Man. This He did. "The Word," who "was God, … became flesh and dwelt among us." Had He come in angelic or any other form, men could not have understood.
- Question — Manoah asked for a name so he could honour the messenger; commentators say his thoughts were on the messenger, not on the Lord.
- Word — The Hebrew behind "secret" or "wonderful" means a riddle no one can explain. Isaiah gives the same name: "His name shall be called Wonderful."
- Sacrifice — Before the offering, Jehovah could not tell Manoah what he asked. After it, the Angel went up in the flame. The cross is the foundation of all our knowledge as children of God.
- Person — The hidden name points past the Nazirite boy to the only Nazirite who ever lived, whose name is Wonderful.
- Revelation — The full answer waited until God came as Man. Had He come in any other form, men could not have understood.
Then Manoah took the kid and the oblation, and offered it up to Jehovah upon the rock. And he did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.
Manoah has just asked his visitor for a name and heard the answer "Wonderful." The meal he planned now becomes a sacrifice, and the guest who would not eat acts out that name while the couple watch.
Manoah's first instinct was to feed his guest. The Angel turned that aside: such a gift belongs to God alone.
Manoah was clearly a God-fearing man, and he wanted to prepare a meal for the Angel. But the Angel told him He would not eat of his food, yet if he wanted to offer a burnt offering he must offer it to the Lord (vv. 15-16). The Angel was the Lord Himself, but Manoah did not know this, and an offering must not be made to a mere man nor to a mere angel.
The food goes on bare stone instead of a table. Commentators see in that rock a picture of the one foundation for drawing near to God.
Manoah meant it as a simple act of hospitality, no doubt with a religious character to it. Now it becomes a sacrifice to be put on the rock. That rock reminds us of the Rock of ages, of the only Rock, the only thing firm in a world as weak and unstable as water... It is on the Rock Christ Jesus. That is the only basis of communion with God. The feast is not spread on Manoah's table. It is put on the lasting Rock — the only basis of relationship, and the only basis of power, for anyone who is to be a Nazirite and a witness for God.
A Nazirite was someone set apart to God by a special vow — Samson, the son promised here, was one from birth. And the stone Manoah used was not rejected as unofficial:
The rock on which they placed their offerings is accepted as an altar by the Lord.
Manoah brings two gifts. Older translations call the second a "meat offering"; the ESV calls it a grain offering. Each one does something different:
The burnt offering is before us in this offering of Manoah and his wife. It is Christ in all His blessed perfection, wholly burnt, a sweet savour to God (Leviticus 1). The burnt offering was all for God; none of it could be eaten by man. But along with it we find God provided a grain offering (vv. 19, 23), and of this the priest might eat.
The same writer shows what that second gift means for the worshipper.
God has called us in to share, in our measure, in His own delight in Christ and His work. There is a grain offering. He has given to the believer that same blessed Christ to be the continual food of his soul.
Manoah was told the name was "Wonderful," and the next thing recorded is wonderful action. The name and the deed match.
The messenger acts according to the name He has given... He is that wondrous Stranger who came again and again in the Old Testament, with His face veiled and His identity hidden. Yet He gave enough hints to remind us that Jehovah and the angel of the Old Testament is, after all, our Jesus, who is Jehovah the Saviour... It is as if He would say to this lowly, weak, helpless couple: if you are to be true Nazirites, you must follow Me by faith where I am. You must see Me as I am, first identified with the Rock, as the altar.
after fix reason placeholder This shows us the Person of Christ. Then the sacrifice upon it... speaks of the work of Christ.
Manoah's questions went unanswered until he had offered. The wonder came after the sacrifice.
The starting point of these truths is the sacrifice... The cross is the foundation of all our knowledge as children of God. Manoah wanted to know many things which the Lord could not reveal to him before the sacrifice. But once this foundation was laid, the angel did wonderfully.
This offering happens on a rock, not at God's appointed place of worship. Writers count it, with two other cases, as true worship even so.
Manoah turns what he had supposed to be a meal into a sacrifice, because the Lord had revealed His wish that it should be so (Judges 13:15, 19)... All three were cases of true worship, even though they clearly departed from God's own established worship.
- Redirected. The Angel refused the food as a meal and took it as a sacrifice. An offering belongs to God alone.
- Rock. The altar was bare stone — Christ as the one firm basis of communion, relationship and power.
- Twofold. The burnt offering went up wholly to God. The grain offering gave the worshipper a share in what delights Him.
- Wonderful. The act of verse 19 proves the name given in verse 18 — the veiled visitor is the Lord Himself.
- Order. The sacrifice came first, the revelation after. The cross is the foundation of all a believer learns later.
And it came to pass, as the flame went up from off the altar towards the heavens, that the Angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar; and Manoah and his wife looked on, and fell on their faces to the ground.
Manoah had asked the stranger's name and got no answer. Instead he got a sight: the flame of his own offering carried the visitor up to heaven, and that sight told him who the stranger was.
This visitor was no created messenger. No servant of God would take the place of the sacrifice:
Only the Son of God would have dared to identify Himself with the burnt offering, going up to God in its smoke and fragrance. The name "Secret" (pahlah) in verse 18 links Him with the Son who would be called "Wonderful" (pahlah) in Isaiah 9:6. It is a serious error, as John found, to mistake an angel for the Lord; but much more to mistake the Son of God for an angel!
Real angels act differently. Gabriel stood at an altar in the temple, and he did nothing of the kind:
Gabriel the messenger stands at the altar, but he will not go up in the flame of the altar, as the angel-Jehovah did long ago (Judges 13:20). He stands in the temple, but he will not speak of himself as greater than the temple, as Jesus-Jehovah did later. He fills his place as a servant, and takes no higher.
The order of the chapter matters. The offering comes first; only then does heaven open:
The cross is the foundation of all our knowledge as children of God. Manoah wanted to know many things which Jehovah could not reveal to him before the sacrifice. But with that foundation in place, the angel did wonderfully... In the fire of the sacrifice they found a new way, never opened before — a way for the representative of Jehovah to go up to Him. Their gaze was fixed on the angel, and they saw a glorious person. Only when he had disappeared from before their eyes did they know where his home was.
The scene has three parts, and each one says something about Christ:
You must see Me as I am, first of all identified with the Rock, as the altar. This shows us the Person of Christ. Then the sacrifice on it... speaks of the work of Christ. So as He goes up in the smoke of the sacrifice, He says to them, in effect: You must identify Me with One on high. He has linked you with His sacrifice and the Rock.
The couple did nothing but watch; older translations read "looked on." One writer explains what the fire meant:
The fire is judgment. But what need was there of the judgment of God on Him? Though the burnt offering shows Christ in all His absolute perfection, the fire proclaims that He took the place of judgment. The sin and the sinner needed this, and the holiness of God demanded it. But then God has accepted that work. Yes, He finds His delight in it.
Nobody can measure what that offering is worth to God — but watching is within reach of anyone:
Can you fathom what that blessed Christ is to God — the burnt-offering? No, you cannot; but you can do what Manoah and his wife did. You can "look on" and see what God's estimate is... And note that it is God's WISH for me to be occupied in this way. It will be the theme of eternal occupation in heaven, and if so it is fitting that it should be my theme on earth.
What they saw drove them to the ground. The same sight should still do that in us, and more deeply, because God has shown us more:
This wonderful act revealed something else, not for Manoah, but for us: the separation to God that the angel had spoken about is now heavenly in character. The angel, in parting from them, went up into heaven... Set apart in heaven, He draws us after Himself and fixes our eyes on Himself. His purpose is that the heavenly character of the One whom the world has rejected may be reproduced in us here below. Manoah and his wife had only a faint glimpse of this revelation, though it teaches us much. They "fell on their faces to the ground." Darkness is increasing. Shall we not adore in fuller measure the God who has revealed to us not only a heavenly and glorified Christ, but our place in Him?
- Sacrifice first. Manoah got no answers until the offering lay on the rock. The cross is the foundation of everything God shows His children.
- Fire. The flame that burned up the offering is judgment. God's holiness demanded it, and God has accepted the work and delights in it.
- The Person. No servant would take the place of the burnt offering. The One who rose in its flame bears the name Wonderful of Isaiah 9:6.
- A way up. In that fire they saw a road not opened before, and a Person now at the end of it, linked to them by His sacrifice.
- Watching and worship. They could not measure the offering, but they could look on and fall on their faces. That is still the believer's occupation, on earth and in heaven.