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13 And the Bnei Yisroel did harah again in the sight of Hashem; and Hashem delivered them into the yad Pelishtim arba’im shanah.

And there was a certain ish from Tzorah, of the mishpakhat HaDanai, whose shem was Manoach; and his isha was barren and bore not.

And the Malach Hashem appeared unto the isha, and said unto her, Hinei now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear ben.

Now therefore be shomer and drink not yayin nor shekhar (strong drink), and eat not kol tameh;

For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear ben; and no morah (razor) shall come on his rosh; for the na’ar shall be a Nazir Elohim from the beten (womb); and he shall begin to save Yisroel from the yad Pelishtim.

Then the isha came and told her ish, saying, An Ish HaElohim came unto me, and his appearance was like the appearance of a Malach HaElohim, norah me’od; but I asked him not where he came from, neither told he me shmo;

But he said unto me, See thou shalt conceive, and bear ben; and now drink no yayin nor shekhar, neither eat any tumah; for the na’ar shall be Nazir Elohim from the beten to the yom moto (day of his death).

Then Manoach prayed entreating Hashem, and said, O Adonoi, let the Ish HaElohim which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we must do unto the na’ar that shall be born.

And HaElohim paid heed to the kol Manoach; and the Malach HaElohim came again unto the isha as she sat in the sadeh; but Manoach her ish was not with her.

10 And the isha made haste, and ran, and told her ish, and said unto him, Hinei, the ish hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

11 And Manoach arose, and went after his isha, and came to the ish, and said unto him, Art thou the ish that didst speak unto the isha? And he said, I am.

12 And Manoach said, Now let thy devar come to pass. How shall be the mishpat hana’ar (proper treatment of the child), and his ma’aseh (work, [life’s] work)?

13 And the Malach Hashem said unto Manoach, Of all that I said unto the isha let her be shomer (beware, guard, keep watch over).

14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the gefen, neither let her drink yayin or shekhar, nor eat any tumah; all that I commanded her let her be shomer to do.

15 And Manoach said unto the Malach Hashem, Now, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a young goat for thee.

16 And the Malach Hashem said unto Manoach, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy lechem; and if thou wilt offer an olah (burnt offering), thou must offer it unto Hashem. For Manoach knew not that he was Malach Hashem.

17 And Manoach said unto Malach Hashem, Mi shmehchah? That when thy devar come to pass we may do thee honor?

18 And the Malach Hashem said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my shem, seeing it is FELI (supremely wonderful [see Isa 9:5(6); Ex 15:11])?

19 So Manoach took a young goat with a minchah, and offered it upon the tzur unto Hashem; and wonderously did He act; and Manoach and his wife looked on.

20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward Shomayim from off the Mizbe’ach, that the Malach Hashem ascended in the flame of the Mizbe’ach. And Manoach and his wife looked on, and fell on their faces to the ground [cf Ac 1:9].

21 But the Malach Hashem did no more appear to Manoach and to his isha. Then Manoach knew that He was the Malach Hashem.

22 And Manoach said unto his isha, We shall surely die, because we have seen Elohim.

23 But his isha said unto him, If Hashem were pleased to kill us, He would not have received an olah (burnt offering) and a minchah from yadenu (our hands), neither would He have showed us all these things, nor at this time would have told us such things as these.

24 And the isha bore ben, and called shmo Shimshon; and the na’ar grew, and Hashem blessed him.

25 And the Ruach Hashem began to impel him at times in Machaneh Dan between Tzorah and Eshtaol.

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines(A) for forty years.(B)

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

Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God(P) came to me. He looked like an angel of God,(Q) very awesome.(R) I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine(S) or other fermented drink(T) and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.(U)’”

Then Manoah(V) prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God(W) you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me(X) the other day!”

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

“I am,” he said.

12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

13 The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink(Y) nor eat anything unclean.(Z) She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat(AA) for you.”

16 The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering,(AB) offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize(AC) that it was the angel of the Lord.)

17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name,(AD) so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name?(AE) It is beyond understanding.[a] 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock(AF) to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame(AG) blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.(AH) 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized(AI) that it was the angel of the Lord.

22 “We are doomed(AJ) to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen(AK) God!”

23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”(AL)

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.(AM) He grew(AN) and the Lord blessed him,(AO) 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir(AP) him while he was in Mahaneh Dan,(AQ) between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:18 Or is wonderful