Judges 13

This chapter opens the Samson narrative (chapters 13–16), the last of the judge accounts in Judges. After the accounts of Jephthah and the minor judges conclude in Judges 12, the familiar pattern repeats: Israel again does evil and falls under oppression.

Outline

• Verse 1 Israel again does evil, and the LORD delivers them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
• Verses 2–7 The wife of Manoah, a man of the tribe of Dan from Zorah, is barren. The angel of the LORD appears to her and announces that she will bear a son. Because the child is to be a Nazirite (one set apart and consecrated to God) from the womb, no razor is to come on his head, and the woman herself is to abstain from wine, strong drink, and anything unclean. The woman reports this to her husband.
• Verses 8–14 Manoah prays for instruction on how to raise the child, and the angel appears again, repeating the commands given to his wife.
• Verses 15–18 Manoah wishes to prepare a young goat for the angel, but the angel says he will not eat the food and that any burnt offering should be offered to the LORD. When Manoah asks his name, the angel replies, "Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?" (the Hebrew word may also be rendered "wonderful").
• Verses 19–23 Manoah offers the sacrifice upon a rock, and the angel ascends toward heaven in the flame of the altar. Manoah is afraid, saying, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God," but his wife answers that the LORD would not have received their offering or shown them these things if He had meant to kill them.
• Verses 24–25 The woman bears a son and names him Samson, and the Spirit of the LORD begins to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Key Verses

• Judges 13:5 "He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines" — Samson's mission is presented not as a completion but as a "beginning."
• Judges 13:18 "Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?" — This verse is central to discussion of the angel's identity.
• Judges 13:23 The wife's reply to Manoah's fear, a scene in which she discerns the purpose of God.

Characters and Places

• Manoah — A man of the tribe of Dan and the father of Samson.
• Manoah's wife — The text does not give her name.
• The angel of the LORD — The figure who announces the birth and ascends in the flame of the offering.
• Samson — The judge born in this chapter.
• Zorah and Eshtaol — Towns in the region where the tribe of Dan was settled.
• Mahaneh-dan — A place between Zorah and Eshtaol, whose name is understood to mean "camp of Dan."

Points for Reflection

• The identity of the angel of the LORD: Since the Church Fathers, many commentators, along with the Reformed tradition, have understood this figure as an appearance of Christ before his incarnation, linking the word rendered "secret" (or "wonderful") to the title "Wonderful" in Isaiah 9, which shares the same root. Other interpreters read the figure as an angel speaking with God's authority.
• The Nazirite regulations: The Nazirite vow of Numbers 6 is kept for a period one sets for oneself, whereas Samson is appointed a Nazirite from the womb to the day of his death.
• Connections among birth announcements: Stories in which a son is promised to a barren woman also appear with Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth. The chapter is also read alongside Luke 1:15, which says that John the Baptist "shall drink neither wine nor strong drink." Hebrews 11:32 mentions Samson among the people of faith.
• Some Jewish traditions assign a name to Manoah's wife, but no name appears in the text itself.