Judges 13:1-7 -- After the Philistines had established their presence on the southwest coast of Canaan, they began to exercise dominion over Israel. Their rule was harsh and oppressive, and was allowed by God because of yet another apostasy. This rule continued unchallenged for 40 years. Such a long period of judgment was in part due to their complete failure to call on their God. The lack of mention of turning back to Jehovah is conspicuous by its absence.
The Tribe of Dan is described as being in a camp. This indicates the degree of difficulty they were having, since they had never possessed their allotment of land. What little they may have occupied was taken from them by the Philistines, and so they were already prepared to migrate to another region of Canaan. While they were thus abiding as yet in the wadi just downslope from Jerusalem, in the Valley of Sorek, in and around Zorah, one of the local families had a visit from God. An angel appeared to the barren wife of a man name Manoah. The end of their public shame was heralded by this visitation, typically marking the birth of someone great. The angel ordered that both mother and child must come under the Nazarite vow (Numbers 6:2-21). She reported the visit to her husband, apparently believing the visitor was simply a prophet of God.
13:8-14 -- The man requested in prayer that the "Man of God" would return and confirm his wife's report. When the visitor reappeared to her, Manoah's wife ran to get him. The angel reaffirmed his instructions from God, leaving no doubt in Manoah's mind what was required.
13:15-23 -- Manoah also had in mind to give proper honor for this blessing. The angel's name would be meaningless to Manoah, but it was a typical request of that day. To know someone's name was believed to offer some power to invoke the person so named. Had the man been a prophet of God, he still might decline such honor, but all the more so an angel. However, it must be clear that Manoah suffered a bit from having mixed notions of paganism, along with the general low level of proper knowledge of God that was endemic in the nation of Israel at that time. He offered to prepare a ritual meal to honor his guest. The angel declared Manoah should instead make an offering to God. It would be typical of people at this time to offer as much hospitality as an honored guest might accept. The motive was not entirely selfless, because to have such a powerful man staying in their home would promise all manner of blessings from God. As soon as the offering was made, the angel ascended in the flames, an unmistakable sign he was not human. Manoah's fearful reaction was typical of someone largely ignorant of the Word of God, and his wife answered correctly.
13:24-25 -- The child she bore was named Samson (Heb. Shim-shone - "little sun"). This showed how far things had gone, for just across the Valley of Sorek there was a shrine to the sun god at Beth-shemesh (Beth - "House," shemesh - "of the Sun"). For Manoah to name his son after the local shrine god indicated the deep ignorance of God's Word. Still, God kept His promise. Samson became quite the leader among his kind.
14:1-9 -- It was a mere 5 miles or so down the valley to Timnath, just over in Philistine territory. Samson fell hard for a young lady there and asked his father to negotiate a marriage, as was the custom of the time. He waved aside his father's objections, and insisted she was the best choice. This would be a violation of the Nazarite Vow, which we see often Samson seems to despise. His parents went along with it, certain it was God at work making an opportunity to embarrass the Philistines. As a part of this customary negotiation between families, the trio went down and stayed in Timnath a few days.
While there, in a place holding fruit forbidden to Samson -- a vineyard -- he was attacked by a young lion. The lions native to that area were relatively small, rather like the American cougar. Still, they were deadly, yet Samson shredded the creature as if it were a tiny lamb, because of the power of God working in him. He didn't report the incident to his parents. On a subsequent visit to his intended bride, Samson checked the place where the lion was killed and found that bees had made a hive in the carcass. Bees won't approach rotting flesh, but this dry climate would have desiccated the body quickly, providing a good shelter. He managed to pull out some honeycomb, touching the carcass in violation of his Nazarite vow. He was munching this on the way home and brought some to his parents, without revealing how he had gotten it. His silence was probably to keep from revealing he had violated his vow.
14:10-20 -- Manoah went for one last visit to finalize the details of this odd marriage, after which Samson proceeded to host a celebration according to custom. The local notables selected 30 local boys to ensure all social obligations were met. Naturally this would call for some sort of competition, measuring each other. We don't know the rules of his wager and riddle, but they evidently found it appropriate. Samson offered to provide 30 nice outfits to these fellows if they could solve his riddle (KJV -- "sheet" is better "shirt"). If not, they would have to collect that much for him.
This was probably more than they could afford, but it appears Samson was prepared to make good on his wager. The text is a bit confusing here, but it appears the celebration was supposed to last seven days, after which the union would be consummated. After three days they had no clue to riddle and blackmailed the bride into wheedling the answer out of Samson. He hadn't told his own family; how could she expect higher regard? Still, her constant nagging did him in and he told her.
The group of young men sprang their surprise on him just before they were to depart and leave the couple alone. It was obvious to him how they got the answer, and his anger was boundless. He left the celebration and his bride, which would be a scandal, indicating she had been found unfaithful. To prevent such a public embarrassment, she was given to the best man. From there Samson traveled down to Ashkelon, a major city of the Philistines about 20 miles away. There he'd probably be unknown, and his actions would surely be unknown to the locals back in Timnath. His encounter with 30 men was likely one or two at a time in ambush or in some sort of challenge combat, which was apparently common in Philistine culture. By taking advantage of the right of plunder, he paid off his lost wager at the cost of 30 Philistine lives. Samson would have chosen his opponents on the basis of their attire and good armor.
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Ed Hurst
revised 05 April 2004
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