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| 1 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 forty years. |
LORD delivered them – For lack of faith. With proper faith one might have chased a thousand and two chased ten thousand. R4088:5
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| 2 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.
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| 3 And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. |
Appeared – In human form, a power which angel's possess. B127
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| 4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: |
Drink not wine – Twice before Samson's birth an angel of the Lord impressed upon his mother the importance of abstemiousness. R5612:3
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| 5 for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. |
Nazarite – It was included in the vow of a Nazarite that he would avoid spiritous liquor in every form, that his hair would not be cut and that he would avoid contamination with dead bodies--signifying full, complete consecration. R5612:3, R4088:1
There is no intimation that Samson ever violated this vow. R4088:1
Not a resident of Nazareth. Jesus was from Nazareth, but not under a Nazarite vow. R5612:3
Deliver Israel – According to divine promise, Samson was to be one of the Judges of Israel, one of the deliverers of Israel. R5612:6
Philistines – They were supposedly pirates, preying upon Israel. R5612:6
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| 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very awesome; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: |
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| 7 but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death. |
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| 8 Then Manoah entreated Jehovah, and said, Oh, Jehovah, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. |
Let the man – The angel who had appeared in human form. E94
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| 9 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. |
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| 10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. |
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| 11 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. |
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| 12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and how shall we do unto him? |
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| 13 And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. |
Angel of the LORD – Perhaps this was the last direct communication between the Lord and any of his people Israel. R5615:5
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| 14 She may not eat of anything 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. |
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| 15 And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee. |
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| 16 And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt make ready a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the angel of Jehovah. |
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| 17 And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, what is thy name, that, when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor? |
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| 18 And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful? |
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| 19 So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah: and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. |
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| 20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. |
Ascended in the flame – Similar in manner to our Lord's ascension. R2818:6
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| 21 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. |
Then Manoah knew – Previously thought to be a man, showing that angels can assume human bodies and appear as men. A183; R265:2, R18:3, R261:6, R578:6
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| 22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. |
God – Hebrew, Elohim, a mighty one, referring to the angel. R1410:3
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| 23 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. |
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| 24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him. |
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| 25 And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. |
Spirit of the LORD – Such a mechanical operation of the holy Spirit is wholly different from that which applies to the Christian, begotten of the Spirit. R5613:3
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