Judges 13:21

THE BIRTH OF SAMSON

"But the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Jehovah. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him. And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahanehdan between Zorah and Eshtaol."

"We shall surely die" (Judges 13:22). This appeared to Manoah as a very logical deduction, because God had stated through Moses that, "Thou shalt not see my face; for man shall not see me and live" (Exodus 32:20). Yes, he knew the Book of Moses, and it hardly needs mentioning that hundreds of examples of this same phenomenon utterly contradict and destroy the critical fairy tale about the Pentateuch's being a late production. Gideon was also familiar with the same teaching (Judges 6:22), as was Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5).

"If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand" (Judges 13:23). The good sense of Manoah's wife prevailed here and removed their fears.

"And the woman bare a son" (Judges 13:24). It would have been wonderful if the Lord had revealed the name of this great woman, but for reasons unknown to us she was continually mentioned as "the woman." God had promised "a son"; and "a son" was born.

"She called his name Samson" (Judges 13:24). "This name means `strong man' or `sun-man'"[21] or "Sunny."[22]

These final two verses make six assertions about Samson, giving, "His birth, his sex, his name, his growth, his divine blessing, and the fact of God's Spirit moving within him."[23]