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;
And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, `What `is' thy name? when thy words come to pass, then we have honoured thee.' And the messenger of Jehovah saith to him, `Why `is' this -- thou dost ask for My name? -- and it `is' Wonderful.'
And he saith to him, `Lo, I pray thee, a man of God `is' in this city, and the man is honoured; all that he speaketh doth certainly come; now, we go there, it may be he doth declare to us our way on which we have gone.'
And this `is' the blessing `with' which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death,
and I lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, a certain one clothed in linen, and his loins girt with pure gold of Uphaz,
and thou, O man of God, these things flee, and pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness;
and gazing at him, all those sitting in the sanhedrim saw his face as it were the face of a messenger.
And the messenger answering said to him, `I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee,
and his countenance was as lightning, and his clothing white as snow, and from the fear of him did the keepers shake, and they became as dead men.
And Jacob awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, `Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew not;' and he feareth, and saith, `How fearful `is' this place; this is nothing but a house of God, and this a gate of the heavens.'
And he cometh in near my station, and at his coming in I have been afraid, and I fall on my face, and he saith unto me: Understand, son of man, for at the time of the end `is' the vision.
and she saith unto her husband, `Lo, I pray thee, I have known that a holy man of God he is, passing over by us continually;
And the woman saith unto Elijah, `Now, this I have known, that a man of God thou `art', and the word of Jehovah in thy mouth `is' truth.'
And Manoah saith unto his wife, `We certainly die, for we have seen God.'
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.'
He saith also, `I `am' the God of thy father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob;' and Moses hideth his face, for he is afraid to look towards God.
and there appeareth unto him a messenger of Jehovah in a flame of fire, out of the midst of the bush, and he seeth, and lo, the bush is burning with fire, and the bush is not consumed.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Judges 13
Commentary on Judges 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
At this chapter begins the story of Samson, the last of the judges of Israel whose story is recorded in this book, and next before Eli. The passages related concerning him are, from first to last, very surprising and uncommon. The figure he makes in this history is really great, and yet vastly different from that of his predecessors. We never find him at the head either of a court or of an army, never upon the throne of judgment nor in the field of battle, yet, in his own proper person, a great patriot of his country, and a terrible scourge and check to its enemies and oppressors; he was an eminent believer (Heb. 11:32) and a glorious type of him who with his own arm wrought salvation. The history of the rest of the judges commences from their advancement to that station, but Samson's begins with his birth, nay, with his conception, no less than an angel from heaven ushers him into the world, as a pattern of what should be afterwards done to John Baptist and to Christ. This is related in this chapter.
Jdg 13:1-7
The first verse gives us a short account, such as we have too often met with already, of the great distress that Israel was in, which gave occasion for the raising up of a deliverer. They did evil, as they had done, in the sight of the Lord, and then God delivered them, as he had done, into the hands of their enemies. If there had been no sin, there would have needed no Saviour; but sin was suffered to abound, that grace might much more abound. The enemies God now sold them to were the Philistines, their next neighbours, that lay among them, the first and chief of the nations which were devoted to destruction, but which God left to prove them (ch. 3:1, 3), the five lords of the Philistines, an inconsiderable people in comparison with Israel (they had but five cities of any note), and yet, when God made use of them as the staff in his hand, they were very oppressive and vexatious. And this trouble lasted longer than any yet: it continued forty years, though probably not always alike violent. When Israel was in this distress Samson was born; and here we have his birth foretold by an angel. Observe,
Jdg 13:8-14
We have here an account of a second visit which the angel of God made to Manoah and his wife.
Jdg 13:15-23
We have here an account,