This chapter relates the birth of Samson, another of the judges of Israel, which was foretold by an angel to his mother, who told her husband of it, Jude 1–7 upon whose entreaty the angel appeared again, and related the same to them both, Jude 8–14 and who was very, respectfully treated by the man,…

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, &c.] Committed idolatry, which was the evil they were prone unto, and were frequently guilty of: and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years: which according to Josephus [[5]] are to be reckoned from the…

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites Of the tribe of Dan, in which tribe Zorah was, and seems to have lain both on the borders of Judah and Dan, ; (See Gill on Josh. 15:33), (See Gill on Josh.

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman According to Josephus [[9]], it was in a plain without the city; and that he appeared in the form of a man is certain from but was not a mere man, a prophet of the Lord, nor a created angel, but the uncreated one, the Angel of the covenant, the Son…

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink Any liquor inebriating and intoxicating, neither new wine nor old wine, as the Targum, and so Jarchi; the reason of this appears in the next verse, because the child she should conceive and bear was to be a Nazarite, and to be…

For, lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son Which is not only repeated for the confirmation of it, but that she might take notice that he was to be a Nazarite, and therefore must conform to everything agreeable to the law of the Nazarites, and take care that it was observed in him: and no razor…

Then the woman came and told her husband To whom it would be joyful news, as it was to her: saying, a man of God came unto me; he appeared in an human form, and therefore she calls him a man; and by his mien and deportment, and the message he brought, she concluded he was a man of God, that is, a…

But he said unto me, behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son She says nothing of her barrenness, which the angel took notice of to her, that having been to her reproach: and now drink no wine nor strong drink; neither new wine nor old wine; so the Targum as before: neither eat any unclean thing;…

Then Manoah entreated the Lord Josephus [[10]] makes the woman to entreat the Lord; but the text is clear for it that it was Manoah that prayed: and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send unto us; he believed that the man that came to his wife was a man of God, and that he was of…

And God hearkened unto the voice of Manoah Heard his prayer and answered it: and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field; who very likely returned to the same place where she was before, in hope her husband’s prayers would be heard, and the man return and come to her…

And the woman made haste, and ran It is not improbable what Josephus says [[11]], that she entreated the angel to stay a little till she fetched her husband, which he assented to, and then made all the haste she could to him, partly through eagerness to acquaint him with it, and partly that she…

And Manoah arose and went after his wife As soon as she had delivered the above, she made all the haste she could to the man again, lest he should think her too long, and depart; and it was proper enough she should go first, to direct her husband where the man was; Jarchi interprets it, after her…

And Manoah said, now let thy words come to pass Which was not only a wish that they might, but a prayer of faith that they would come pass: how shall we order the child? and how shall we do unto him? he believed a child would be born, and as he was to be a Nazarite, he knew what were the rules and…

And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah Giving him no direct answer to his question, either what should be done to the child, or what that should do; only reminds of and repeats what he had said to his wife, which she should be careful to observe and would, and that was enough for him to know:…

She may not eat of anything that cometh from the vine, &c.] Grapes moist or dried, kernels, or husks, or anything made of them: neither let her drink wine, or strong drink; as she was to be careful to abstain from such liquors, so her husband also is enjoined not to suffer her to drink any: nor eat…

And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord Being satisfied with what he had said, and perceiving that he chose to say no more, and was about to depart: I pray thee let me detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee; to eat a meal with them, in token of gratitude for the trouble he…

And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah In answer to his request: though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; that is, should he be prevailed upon to stay awhile with him, until an entertainment should be got ready, he would not eat of any of his provisions; for “bread” is put for all…

And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, what is thy name, &c.] Who art thou, and by what name art thou called? for since he could not prevail upon him to stay and eat a meal with him, he desired to know his name, and where he lived, that when he heard his name mentioned he might speak well of…

And the angel of the Lord said unto him Being so importunate, and pressing upon him; why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? and not to be known; as his nature and essence as a divine Person, which may be meant by his name, is what passes knowledge, is infinite and…

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering The kid which he proposed to make an entertainment with, for the man of God, he took him to be, he fetched and brought for a burnt offering, at the hint which the angel had given him, and joined to it a meat offering, as was usual whenever burnt offerings…

For it came to pass, when the flame went up towards heaven from off the altar That is, from the rock, which served instead of an altar, and from whence perhaps the fire sprung which consumed both the burnt offering and the meat offering, the flame of which went up to heaven; this rock or altar…

But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife As the flame and smoke ascended, he disappeared therewith, and was seen no more: then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord; by the wondrous things he did, causing fire to come down from heaven, or out of the rock,…

And Manoah said unto his wife Being risen from the ground, where they fell on their faces: we shall surely die, because we have seen God; by which it appears that he not only believed him to be an angel, and not a man, but a divine Person; for though angels are sometimes called “Elohim”, the word…

But his wife said unto him Who was less fearful, and the strongest believer of the two, seeing her husband so very much intimidated, endeavoured to comfort and strengthen him by the three following arguments: if the Lord was pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat…

And the woman bare a son, and called name Samson After these appearances were over, Manoah and his wife returned to their habitation, and she soon became pregnant, and at the usual course of time brought forth a son, and she gave him the name of Samson; for what reason it is not easy to determine.

And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan To go out into it, in order to be trained up in and inured to military exercises; or it began to “strike” his mind, inject thoughts into it, and impress it with them concerning doing great things for the people of God in time…