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11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her menstrual periods.(A)

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11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old,(A) and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.(B)

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There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites,[a] whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children.(A) (B)An angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her: Though you are barren and have had no children, you will conceive and bear a son. (C)Now, then, be careful to drink no wine or beer and to eat nothing unclean, for you will conceive and bear a son. No razor shall touch his head, for the boy is to be a nazirite for God[b] from the womb. It is he who will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.

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Footnotes

  1. 13:2 The clan of the Danites: before the migration described in chap. 18 the tribe of Dan occupied a small territory west of Benjamin, adjacent to the Philistine plain; see note on 3:3.
  2. 13:5 A nazirite for God: according to the rules for nazirites set forth in Nm 6:2–8, Samson’s vows would have obliged him to abstain from wine and other products of the vine and to keep his hair uncut. As the story that follows shows, the last requirement proved especially fateful in Samson’s life.

A certain man of Zorah,(A) named Manoah,(B) from the clan of the Danites,(C) had a wife who was childless,(D) unable to give birth. The angel of the Lord(E) appeared to her(F) and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.(G) Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink(H) and that you do not eat anything unclean.(I) You will become pregnant and have a son(J) whose head is never to be touched by a razor(K) because the boy is to be a Nazirite,(L) dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead(M) in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

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but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.(A) Her rival,[a] to upset her, would torment her constantly, since the Lord had closed her womb.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:6 Her rival: Hebrew sara, “rival wife, co-wife”; in the Talmud, a technical term for a second or co-wife.

But to Hannah he gave a double portion(A) because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.(B) Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.(C)

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