Israel is delivered into the hand of the Philistines, 1. An angel appears to Manoah's wife, 2-7. The angel appears to Manoah, 8-14. Manoah's sacrifice, whereby the angel is discovered, 15-23. Samson is born, 24, 25.
1 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.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren and did not bear. 3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, now, you are barren and do not bear, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, beware, I pray you, and do not drink wine, nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth. And he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines." 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very awesome. But I did not ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And now drink no wine or strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.'"
8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, "O my Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come back to us and teach us what we shall do to the child who shall be born." 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 And the woman made haste and ran and declared to her husband, and said to him, "Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me." 11 And Manoah arose, went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." 12 And Manoah said, "Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and what shall we do to him?" 13 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman, let her beware. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe."
15 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "I pray you, let us detain you until we have made ready a kid for you." 16 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you should detain me, I will not eat of your bread. And if you will offer a burnt-offering, you must offer it to the LORD." For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the LORD. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name so that we may do you honor when your sayings come to pass?" 18 And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask for my name, seeing it is secret?" 19 So Manoah took a kid, with a food-offering, and offered it upon a rock to the LORD, and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came to pass, when the flame ascended 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 and fell on their faces to the ground.
21 But the angel of the LORD no longer appeared to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die because we have seen God." 23 But his wife said to him, "If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a food-offering at our hands, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would, as at this time, have told us such things as these."
24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Judges, Chapter 13[➚]
[v.5] - "Nazarite" - The law of the Nazarite is found in Numbers, ch. 6.