BOOK 7 OF 66 · HISTORY · KING JAMES BIBLE

Judges 13

Judges book home•Chapter 13 of 21•25 verses

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Judges 13 Overview

Israel again does evil, and the LORD gives them into Philistine hands for forty years. An angel of the LORD appears to the barren wife of Manoah and announces that she will bear a son who is to be a Nazarite from the womb and will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Manoah asks for instruction, the messenger confirms the command, and the couple realizes after the offering and the angel’s departure that they have encountered a divine messenger. Samson is born, grows, is blessed by the LORD, and the Spirit begins to move him.

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Before you read Judges 13

Coming from

Chapter 12 closed with the judgeships of Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon after Jephthah’s turbulent period.

In this chapter

The Samson story begins before his birth, emphasizing divine initiative, a lifelong Nazarite setting, and a deliverance that will only begin rather than finish in Samson’s lifetime.

Leads into

Chapter 14 follows the adult Samson to Timnath, where his desire to marry a Philistine woman becomes entangled with God’s purpose against the Philistines, a lion, honey, and a wedding riddle.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Samson differs from earlier judges because his calling is announced before conception and his Nazarite separation begins from the womb. Numbers 6 describes the ordinary Nazarite vow, but Samson’s case has special instructions given to his mother and a lifelong purpose. The statement that he will 'begin to deliver Israel' prepares the reader not to expect complete liberation from Philistine power. The chapter also presents the angel of the LORD in unusually exalted terms, yet care is warranted before claiming more than the text explicitly defines about the messenger’s identity.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

Samson’s deliverer role begins with God’s initiative before Samson can do anything to earn or arrange it.

Truth 2

The promised child is set apart for a purpose larger than his personal desires: he is to begin Israel’s deliverance from Philistine oppression.

Truth 3

Manoah and his wife are instructed to take God’s word seriously even when they do not fully understand the identity of the messenger.

Truth 4

The LORD blesses Samson and the Spirit begins to move him, establishing that his later strength is not explained merely by natural physique.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Numbers 6:1–21 gives the Torah background for Nazarite separation, including abstinence from wine and strong drink, uncut hair, and restrictions concerning the dead.

Connection 2

1 Samuel 1 contains another birth narrative involving barrenness and a child dedicated to the LORD, though Samuel’s circumstances and calling are not identical to Samson’s.

Connection 3

Judges 14–16 develops the tension between Samson’s divine calling and his impulsive, often self-centered choices.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Do not assume Samson’s hair is a magical source of power by itself. His hair is the sign of his Nazarite separation; the narrative repeatedly attributes empowerment to the Spirit of the LORD and ultimately to God.

Keep this clear 2

The angel of the LORD receives extraordinary treatment in the passage, but interpreters should distinguish the text’s explicit statements from later conclusions about a preincarnate appearance of Christ.

Keep this clear 3

Samson’s calling before birth does not make every later action righteous. Judges will intentionally show a man genuinely used by God who also makes deeply flawed choices.

Read Judges 13 watching for…

The length of Philistine oppression.

What is commanded concerning the mother and the child before Samson is born.

The phrase that Samson will 'begin' to deliver Israel.

Manoah’s questions and his wife’s clearer reasoning after the angel departs.

The final references to the LORD’s blessing and the Spirit moving Samson.

Chapter outline4 sections

1-7The angel tells Manoah’s wife that she will bear a son 8-14Manoah asks the LORD for instruction, and the angel returns 15-23Manoah offers sacrifice, and the angel ascends in the flame 24-25Samson is born and the Spirit of the LORD begins to move him

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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Judges 13:8

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