Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Judges
Chapter 13: We Have Seen God
A barren woman, a promised son, and the Angel of the LORD whose name is 'secret,' Wonderful. The last great judge is announced with wonder: a Nazarite from the womb who will begin to deliver Israel. And when the Angel ascends in the altar flame, Manoah cries, 'We shall surely die, because we have seen God.' Here the LORD Himself came down to promise a deliverer.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Judges chapter 13. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 13 opens the story of Samson with a magnificent appearing of the Angel of the LORD, and for the Apostolic reader it is one of the clearest Old Testament unveilings of the one God in visible form. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
The Angel Appears to the Barren Wife (Judges 13:1-7)
In the midst of long Philistine bondage, the Angel of the LORD comes to a childless woman with the promise of a Nazarite son who will begin Israel's deliverance.
A Nazarite Unto God from the Womb
"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. And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death."
Word Study
"Nazarite," Hebrew nazir (נָזִיר), "separated, consecrated, set apart," from nazar, "to separate, to dedicate." The Nazarite vow (Numbers 6) was a voluntary consecration in which one abstained from the fruit of the vine, let the hair grow uncut, and avoided contact with the dead, an outward sign of a life wholly set apart to God. Samson was to be a Nazarite not by choice but "from the womb," and "to the day of his death," a lifelong, God-appointed separation. The word points to the heart of all true holiness: to be set apart unto God. The New Testament calls every believer to the same reality, not by uncut hair, but in heart: "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing" (2 Corinthians 6:17). Samson's tragedy will be that he wore the marks of separation while breaking the vow in his heart, a warning that outward consecration without inward holiness is empty.
Explanation
Israel's deepest bondage yet: forty years under the Philistines, and this time there is no recorded cry for help, they had grown numb to their chains. Into that silence God moves first, unasked. He comes to a barren woman of Dan, the wife of Manoah, with the promise of a son. The pattern is familiar, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, later Elisabeth, God loves to bring life out of a barren womb, that the child may plainly be His gift. The son is to be a Nazarite from birth, marked by abstinence and uncut hair, and even the mother must keep the Nazarite restrictions during pregnancy. He will "begin to deliver Israel", note the word "begin"; Samson would only start a work that David would finish. God announces the deliverer before the people even ask.
Gospel Focus
God's grace runs ahead of our asking. Israel did not cry out this time, yet God prepared a deliverer anyway, the same grace that "commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). And the announcement to a barren woman is a signpost: the true Deliverer would come, not from a barren womb, but from a virgin's, an even greater wonder, born of God's initiative alone. Every miraculous birth in Scripture, promised by God, granted where nature had failed, points toward the Child whose birth was the greatest wonder of all. When we were barren and helpless, God came unasked and promised a Saviour. That is the gospel: grace before we sought it.
Manoah's Prayer and the Angel's Return (Judges 13:8-16)
Manoah prays for the messenger to return, and the Angel comes again, refusing their food and pointing them to offer their sacrifice to the LORD.
Offer It Unto the LORD
"Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD."
Word Study
"And he said, I am," Hebrew ani (אֲנִי), an emphatic "I." When Manoah asks, "Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman?" the Angel answers simply, "I am." It is not the full covenant name, but for the Apostolic reader the echo is striking, for this same Angel of the LORD is repeatedly identified as the LORD Himself, and the LORD's own name is "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14). The One who spoke from the bush as "I AM," and who said "Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread... offer it unto the LORD," is the pre-incarnate Christ. And it was the Lord Jesus who took that divine name on His own lips: "before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), and "if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24). The Angel who visited Manoah and the Man who walked in Galilee are the one LORD, the great I AM manifest in flesh.
Explanation
Manoah, hearing his wife's report, prays a humble prayer: send the man again to "teach us what we shall do." It is a model request, a father asking God how to raise the child God is giving. God graciously answers, and the Angel returns. When Manoah offers hospitality, a meal, the Angel refuses to eat his food but redirects him: if you will offer anything, "offer it unto the LORD." The messenger will not receive what belongs to God alone, the sacrifice must go to the LORD. All the while, "Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD"; he was entertaining the LORD Himself and did not yet realize it. The Angel deflects the honor to God, precisely because He is God and will lead them to worship rightly.
Gospel Focus
Manoah's prayer is a pattern for every parent: "teach us what we shall do unto the child." Godly parenting begins on the knees, asking the God who gives children how to raise them for Him, and "God hearkened to the voice of Manoah." He still hears such prayers. And notice how the Angel turns all offering toward the LORD: true worship refuses to rest on any messenger or means and directs everything to God. Even so, the New Testament angels forbid worship of themselves, "see thou do it not... worship God" (Revelation 22:9). Yet this Angel receives the sacrifice and ascends in its flame, because He is no created angel but the LORD. He points us to offer all to God, and He is that God.
The Ascending Flame (Judges 13:17-25)
The Angel reveals His name is secret, ascends in the altar fire, and Manoah understands they have seen God, then Samson is born.
Why Askest Thou After My Name, Seeing It Is Secret?
"And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up 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 it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol."
Word Study
"secret," Hebrew peli (פֶּלִאי), "wonderful, incomprehensible, beyond understanding." When Manoah asks His name, the Angel replies that it is peli, "wonderful." This is the very word Isaiah would use for the coming child who is God with us: "his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), where "Wonderful" renders the closely related pele. The Angel of the LORD whose name is "Wonderful" is the same One whose name would be called "Wonderful" when He was born of a virgin, for He is "The mighty God, The everlasting Father." Here is the Oneness truth shining through the Old Testament: the God who came down to Manoah, whose name is Wonderful, is the God who came in the flesh as the Son, and He is not a second person but the one LORD Himself made visible. When Manoah cried "We have seen God," and Isaiah named the child "The mighty God," they spoke of one and the same LORD, Jesus Christ.
Explanation
Manoah asks the Angel's name to honor Him, and the answer, "Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret [Wonderful]?", is itself a revelation of who He is. Then Manoah offers the kid on a rock, and "the angel did wondrously": as the flame rose, "the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar." He was in the fire, going up in the very sacrifice, and the awestruck couple fell on their faces. Only then did Manoah understand, and he cried in terror, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God." His wife's answer is a gem of practical faith: if God meant to kill us, He would not have accepted our offering or told us these things. And so the promised son is born, Samson, and "the LORD blessed him," and "the Spirit of the LORD began to move him."
Gospel Focus
"We have seen God." The Angel of the LORD is the LORD, and Manoah, like Jacob at Peniel and Gideon at Ophrah, met God face to face and lived. That the eternal God, invisible and unapproachable in His essence, should make Himself seen and known to men is the wonder that runs from these appearings to Bethlehem. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son... he hath declared him" (John 1:18). The One whose name is Wonderful, who ascended in the flame of the sacrifice, would one day be lifted up as the sacrifice Himself and ascend indeed. And Manoah's wife teaches us how to read God's dealings: His acceptance of the offering is the proof of His good will. If God has received the sacrifice, our Sacrifice, Christ, then He does not mean to destroy us but to bless us, for "he that spared not his own Son... how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).
Chapter 13 in Review
Judges 13 opens Samson's story with a glorious appearing of the Angel of the LORD. In Israel's deepest, silent bondage, God comes unasked to a barren woman with the promise of a Nazarite son who will begin to deliver Israel. The Angel returns at Manoah's humble prayer, refuses their food, directs all offering to the LORD, declares His name "secret," Wonderful, and ascends in the altar flame. Manoah cries, "We have seen God," and the promised Samson is born, blessed of the LORD and stirred by His Spirit.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is a treasure. The Angel of the LORD is the LORD Himself in visible form, His name is "Wonderful," the very name Isaiah gives the child who is "The mighty God, The everlasting Father." Here the one God who would be manifest in flesh came down to promise a deliverer. And in Manoah's wife we learn to rest in a God who, having received the sacrifice, means not to destroy us but to bless.
- God's grace ran ahead of Israel's silence, promising a deliverer before they even cried out.
- Samson was set apart as a Nazarite from the womb; true holiness is being wholly set apart to God.
- The Angel's name is "Wonderful," the same name Isaiah gives the child who is "The mighty God."
- "We have seen God", the Angel of the LORD is the one LORD made visible, fulfilled in Christ.
Questions for Reflection
- Like Manoah, do you ask God to "teach us what we shall do" with the children and tasks He gives?
- Samson bore the marks of separation; is your consecration outward only, or true in the heart?
- Manoah's wife rested on God's acceptance of the sacrifice. Do you rest in God's acceptance of Christ for you?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The Nazarite promise; grace before the cry: Judges 13:1-7; Numbers 6; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Romans 5:8.
- The Angel's "I am"; offering to the LORD alone: Judges 13:8-16; Exodus 3:14; John 8:24, 58; Revelation 22:9.
- The name that is Wonderful; "we have seen God": Judges 13:17-25; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:18; Romans 8:32.