1 And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 2 And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name [is] Manoah, his wife [is] barren, and hath not borne; 3 and a messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto the woman, and saith unto her, 'Lo, I pray thee, thou [art] barren, and hast not borne; when thou hast conceived, then thou hast borne a son. 4 And, now, take heed, I pray thee, and do not drink wine, and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, 5 for, lo, thou art conceiving and bearing a son, and a razor doth not go up on his head, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb, and he doth begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.' 6 And the woman cometh and speaketh to her husband, saying, 'A man of God hath come unto me, and his appearance [is] as the appearance of a messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked him whence he [is], and his name he hath not declared to me; 7 and he saith to me, Lo, thou art pregnant, and bearing a son, and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb till the day of his death.' 8 And Manoah maketh entreaty unto Jehovah, and saith, 'O, my Lord, the man of God whom Thou didst send, let him come in, I pray thee, again unto us, and direct us what we do to the youth who is born.' 9 And God hearkeneth to the voice of Manoah, and the messenger of God cometh again unto the woman, and she [is] sitting in a field, and Manoah her husband is not with her, 10 and the woman hasteth, and runneth, and declareth to her husband, and saith unto him, 'Lo, he hath appeared unto me — the man who came on [that] day unto me.' 11 And Manoah riseth, and goeth after his wife, and cometh unto the man, and saith to him, 'Art thou the man who spake unto the woman?' and he saith, 'I [am].' 12 And Manoah saith, 'Now let thy words come to pass; what is the custom of the youth — and his work?' 13 And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, 'Of all that I said unto the woman let her take heed; 14 of anything which cometh out from the wine-vine she doth not eat, and wine and strong drink she doth not drink, and any unclean thing she doth not eat; all that I have commanded her she doth observe.' 15 And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, 'Let us detain thee, we pray thee, and prepare before thee a kid of the goats.' 16 And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, 'If thou detain me — I do not eat of thy bread; and if thou prepare a burnt-offering — to Jehovah thou dost offer it;' for Manoah hath not known that He [is] a messenger of Jehovah. 17 And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, 'What [is] thy name? when thy words come to pass, then we have honoured thee.' 18 And the messenger of Jehovah saith to him, 'Why [is] this — thou dost ask for My name? — and it [is] Wonderful.' 19 And Manoah taketh the kid of the goats, and the present, and offereth on the rock to Jehovah, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, 20 and it cometh to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of Jehovah goeth up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth, 21 and the messenger of Jehovah hath not added again to appear unto Manoah, and unto his wife, then hath Manoah known that He [is] a messenger of Jehovah. 22 And Manoah saith unto his wife, 'We certainly die, for we have seen God.' 23 And his wife saith to him, 'If Jehovah were desirous to put us to death, He had not received from our hands burnt-offering and present, nor shewed us all these things, nor as [at this] time caused us to hear [anything] like this.' 24 And the woman beareth a son, and calleth his name Samson, and the youth groweth, and Jehovah doth bless him, 25 and the Spirit of Jehovah beginneth to move him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges · Young's Literal Translation
Judges 13 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Manoah
Danite from Zorah whose barren wife was promised a son by the angel of the LORD, who prayed for guidance in raising the boy, offered a burnt offering, and was buried in the tomb…
Cited in the guide: Judges 13:2; Judges 13:8; Judges 13:19
Samson
Nazirite from the womb, born to Manoah and his wife in answer to the angel's promise, whom the Spirit of the LORD empowered to strike the Philistines, who judged Israel twenty…
Cited in the guide: Judges 13:24; Judges 14:1; Judges 15:20
Cross references (23)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Samuel 12:9; Judges 6:1; Romans 2:6; Judges 3:7; Judges 2:11
- 2 Joshua 19:41; Joshua 15:33; Luke 1:7; Genesis 25:21; Genesis 16:1
- 3 Luke 1:13; Luke 1:11; Judges 6:11–12; Genesis 18:10; 2 Kings 4:16
- 4 Luke 1:15; Judges 13:14; Numbers 6:2–3; Judges 13:7; Leviticus 11:47
- 5 Numbers 6:5; 1 Samuel 1:11; Numbers 6:2–3; 1 Chronicles 18:1; 1 Samuel 7:13
- 6 Matthew 28:3–4; Judges 13:17–18; 1 Samuel 9:6; Revelation 1:17; Luke 9:29
- 7 Judges 13:4
- 8 Acts 9:6; Job 34:32; Proverbs 3:5–6
- 9 Psalm 65:2; Matthew 7:7–11
- 10 John 1:41–42; John 4:28–29
- 12 Ephesians 6:4; Proverbs 22:6; Genesis 18:19; Proverbs 4:4
- 14 Deuteronomy 12:32; John 2:5; Judges 13:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:4; John 15:14
- 15 Genesis 18:3–5; Judges 13:3; Judges 6:18–19
- 16 Judges 13:23; Judges 6:20; Judges 6:26
- 17 Genesis 32:29
- 18 Genesis 32:29; Isaiah 9:6; Judges 13:6
- 19 Judges 6:19–21; 1 Kings 18:30–38
- 20 Leviticus 9:24; 2 Kings 2:11; 1 Chronicles 21:16; Ezekiel 1:28; Matthew 17:6
- 21 Judges 6:22; Hosea 12:4–5; Judges 13:16
- 22 Genesis 32:30; Deuteronomy 5:26; John 1:18; Exodus 33:20; John 5:37
- 23 Psalm 25:14; 1 Corinthians 12:21; Psalm 86:17; John 15:15; John 14:20
- 24 Luke 1:80; 1 Samuel 3:19; Hebrews 11:32; Luke 2:52
- 25 Judges 3:10; Joshua 15:33; John 3:34; 1 Samuel 11:6; Matthew 4:1
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… not amazed at Manoah the Judge of yore, and at Peter the disciple in later days; the one being unable to endure the sight even of one in whom was a representation of God; and saying, "We are undone, O wife, we have seen God;" speaking as though even a vision of God could not be grasped by human beings, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)