Judges 13:1 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 13:1

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord ,.... 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 F6 Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 5.) c. 8. sect. 1. are to be reckoned from the death of the last judge, and the time of Samson's birth; or rather from some time after the death of Jephthah, particularly taking in the two last years of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 13:1

Delivered them into the hand of the Philistines - It does not appear that after Shamgar, to the present time, the Philistines were in a condition to oppress Israel, or God had not permitted them to do it; but now they have a commission, the Israelites having departed from the Lord. Nor is it evident that the Philistines had entirely subjected the Israelites, as there still appears to have been a sort of commerce between the two people. They had often vexed and made inroads upon... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 13:1

The Philistines have been mentioned as oppressors of Israel in Judges 3:31; Judges 10:7, Judges 10:11; and the Israelite worship of the gods of the Philistines is spoken of in Judges 10:6. But this is the first time that we have any detailed history in connection with the Philistines. They continned to be the prominent enemies of Israel until the time of David.Forty years - The Philistine dominion began before the birth of Samson Judges 13:5, and was in force during Samson’s twenty years’... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 13:1

Judges 13:1. The children of Israel did evil again That is, fell into idolatry, not, it seems, after the death of Abdon, the last judge, but in the days of the former judges. The Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines These were a very inconsiderable people. They had but five cities of any note. And yet, when God used them as a staff in his hand, they were very oppressive and vexatious. Forty years To be computed, not from Abdon’s death, but before that time. This is the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 13:1-25

A man to fight the Philistines (13:1-25)The Philistines were by far the strongest enemy that Israel had yet met. Their forty years of rule lasted until the time of Samuel, and they continued to give trouble during the reigns of Saul and David (13:1).Samson was the man God chose to begin the job of breaking the Philistines’ rule. Before he was born, his mother was told by a messenger from God that she was to dedicate the child to God as a Nazirite for life. This meant that Samson was not to... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 13:1

children = sons. did evil again = Hebrew added to commit. evil. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 . the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 . forty years. 1120-1080. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Judges 13:1

XII. SAMSON (Judges 13-16)THE CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF SAMSON;AN INTRODUCTION"And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years."This introduction for the story of Samson is very brief, because a much longer introduction had already been given for all of the judgeships from Gideon and afterward in Judges 6:1-10. (See my comment on those ten verses.)There is a missing note here. Whereas, in... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 13:1

CHAP. XIII. The Israelites are oppressed forty years by the Philistines: an angel appears to the wife of Manoah, and promises her a son: he appears again to the husband and wife, and ascends, in the midst of the flame of the burnt offering, towards heaven: Samson is born. Before Christ 1175. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Judges 13:1

1. the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years—The Israelites were represented (Judges 10:6; 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... read more