The Birth of Samson

13 Again the ·people [^Lsons; ^Tchildren] of Israel did ·what the Lord said was wrong [^Levil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. So he ·handed them over to [^Lgave them into the hand of] the Philistines for forty years.

² There was a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan, who lived in the city of Zorah [^Cfifteen miles west of Jerusalem; v. 25]. He had a wife, but she [^Lwas barren/infertile and] could not have children [^Ca cause of both sadness and shame; Gen. 11:30; 29:31]. ³ The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [^Cangelic spokesperson for God, sometimes identified with the Lord himself; 2:1; 6:11; Gen. 16:7; Ex. 14:19; 23:20] appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “·You [^LLook/^TBehold, you are barren and] have not been able to have children, but you will ·become pregnant [conceive] and give birth to a son. ⁴ Be careful not to drink wine or ·beer [or other fermented drink; ^Tstrong drink; ^Can alcoholic beverage made from grain] or eat anything that is unclean [^Cin a ritual sense], ⁵ because you will ·become pregnant [conceive] and have a son. You must never cut his hair, because he will be a Nazirite [Num. 6:1–12], given to God from ·birth [^Lthe womb]. He will begin to ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] Israel from the ·power [hand] of the Philistines.”

⁶ Then Manoah’s wife went to him and told him what had happened. She said, “A man from God came to me. He looked like an angel from God; ·his appearance was frightening [very terrifying/awesome]. I didn’t ask him where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘You will ·become pregnant [conceive] and will have a son. Don’t drink wine or ·beer [or other fermented drink; ^Tstrong drink; v. 4] or eat anything that is unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite [v. 5] to God from his birth until the day of his death.’”

⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, I beg you to let the man of God come to us again. Let him teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born to us.”

⁹ God heard Manoah’s prayer, and the ·angel [messenger] of God came to Manoah’s wife again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰ So she ran to tell him, “·He is here [^LLook; ^TBehold]! The man who ·appeared [came] to me the other day is here!”

¹¹ Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

The man said, “I am.”

¹² So Manoah asked, “When what you say happens, what kind of life should the boy live? What ·should he do [is his mission/vocation]?”

¹³ The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord said, “Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her to do. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything that grows on a grapevine, or drink any wine or ·beer [or other fermented drink; ^Tstrong drink; v. 4], or eat anything that is unclean [^Cin a ritual sense]. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

¹⁵ Manoah said to the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord, “We would like you to stay awhile so we can cook a young goat for you.”

¹⁶ The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord answered, “Even if I stay awhile, I would not eat your food. But if you want to prepare something, offer a burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] to the Lord.” (Manoah did not understand that the man was really the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord.)

¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord, “What is your name? Then we will honor you when what you have said really happens.”

¹⁸ The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord said, “Why do you ask my name? It is ·too amazing for you to understand [beyond comprehension; wonderful; Is. 9:6].” ¹⁹ So Manoah sacrificed a young goat on a rock and offered ·some grain as a gift [a grain/gift/tribute offering; Lev. 2:1] to the Lord. Then ·an amazing thing happened [or the Lord did an amazing thing] as Manoah and his wife watched. ²⁰ As the flames went up to ·the sky [heaven] from the altar, the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord ·went up [ascended] in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they bowed facedown on the ground. ²¹ The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord did not appear to them again. Then Manoah ·understood [realized; knew] that the man was really the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord. ²² Manoah said, “We have seen ·God [or a divine being; ^CHebrew: Elohim; v. 3], so we will surely die [6:23; Gen. 16:13].”

²³ But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] or ·grain [^Lgift; tribute] offering [Lev. 2:1]. He would not have shown us all these things or told us all this.”

²⁴ So the woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson [^Crelated to the Hebrew word for “sun”; perhaps “sun-like” or “light from God”; Mal. 4:2]. He grew, and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ The Spirit of the Lord began to ·work in Samson [move/stir/empower him] while he was in the city of Mahaneh Dan, between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.