---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Judges 13"
description: "CHAPTER 13   :-. ISRAEL SERVES
THE PHILISTINES
FORTY YEARS. 1. the Lord delivered them into the
hand of the Philistines forty years—The Israelites were
re"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/judges/13"
---

CHAPTER 13

. ISRAEL SERVES
THE PHILISTINES
FORTY YEARS.

**1. the Lord delivered them into the
hand of the Philistines forty years**—The Israelites were
represented ([Judges 10:6](../../../kjv/judges/10/6); [Judges 10:7](../../../kjv/judges/10/7))
as having fallen universally into a state of gross and confirmed
idolatry, and in chastisement of this great apostasy, the Lord raised
up enemies that harassed them in various quarters, especially the
Ammonites and Philistines. The invasions and defeat of the former
were narrated in the two chapters immediately preceding this; and now
the sacred historian proceeds to describe the inroads of the latter
people. The period of Philistine ascendency comprised forty years,
reckoning from the time of Elon till the death of Samson.
[Judges 10:7](../../../kjv/judges/10/7). AN ANGEL
APPEARS TO MANOAH'S
WIFE.

**2. Zorah**—a Danite town () lying on the common boundary of Judah and Dan, so that it
was near the Philistine border.

**3. the angel of the Lord**—The
messenger of the covenant, the divine personage who made so many
remarkable appearances of a similar kind already described.

**5. thou shalt conceive, and bear a
son**—This predicted child was to be a Nazarite. The mother was,
therefore, for the sake of her promised offspring, required to
practice the rigid abstinence of the Nazarite law (see on ).
**he shall begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines**—a prophecy
encouraging to a patriotic man; the terms of it, however, indicated
that the period of deliverance was still to be distant.

**6-8. then Manoah entreated the
Lord**—On being informed by his wife of the welcome intimation,
the husband made it the subject of earnest prayer to God. This is a
remarkable instance, indicative of the connection which God has
established between prayer and the fulfilment of His promises.
. THE ANGEL
APPEARS TO MANOAH.

**11. Art thou the man that spakest
unto the woman?**—Manoah's intense desire for the repetition of
the angel's visit was prompted not by doubts or anxieties of any
kind, but was the fruit of lively faith, and of his great anxiety to
follow out the instructions given. Blessed was he who had not seen,
yet had believed.
. MANOAH'S
SACRIFICE.

**15. Manoah said unto the angel . .
., I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a
kid**—The stranger declined the intended hospitality and
intimated that if the meat were to be an offering, it must be
presented to the Lord [[Judges 13:6](../../../kjv/judges/13/6)].
Manoah needed this instruction, for his purpose was to offer the
prepared viands to him, not as the Lord, but as what he imagined him
to be, not even an angel ([Judges 13:6](../../../kjv/judges/13/6)), but a prophet or merely human messenger. It was on this
account, and not as rejecting divine honors, that he spoke in this
manner to Manoah. The angel's language was exactly similar to that of
our Lord ([Matthew 19:17](../../../kjv/matthew/19/17)).

**17-20. Manoah said unto the angel .
. ., What is thy name?**—Manoah's request elicited the most
unequivocal proofs of the divinity of his supernatural visitor—in
his name "secret" (in the *Margin,* "wonderful"),
and in the miraculous flame that betokened the acceptance of the
sacrifice.
[Judges 13:24](../../../kjv/judges/13/24);
[Judges 13:25](../../../kjv/judges/13/25). SAMSON
BORN.

**24. the woman bare a son, and called
his name Samson**—The birth of this child of promise, and the
report of the important national services he was to render, must,
from the first, have made him an object of peculiar interest and
careful instruction.

**25. the Spirit of the Lord began to
move him at times**—not, probably, as it moved the prophets, who
were charged with an inspired message, but kindling in his youthful
bosom a spirit of high and devoted patriotism.
**Eshtaol**—the free city.
It, as well as Zorah, stood on the border between Judah and Dan.

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