Judges 13:7

7 but he said to me, "You shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.' "

Judges 13:7 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 13:7

But he said unto me, behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a
son
She says nothing of her barrenness, which the angel took notice of to her, that having been to her reproach:

and now drink no wine nor strong drink;
neither new wine nor old wine; so the Targum as before:

neither eat any unclean thing;
which was so in a ceremonial sense; otherwise every creature of God is good, and not to be called common or unclean; it here respects what was forbidden Nazarites to eat; see ( Judges 13:4 )

for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb;
it is here added, what is not before expressed,

unto his death;
for he was to be a perpetual Nazarite; some were only Nazarites for a time, for so many days or months, according to their vow; but this son was to be a Nazarite all his days, by the appointment of God; nor is it any objection to what is here said, that his hair was cut off before his death, which caused his Nazariteship to cease; since these words are not a prophecy, but a precept; and besides, that affair happened but a little before his death, he died quickly afterwards.

Judges 13:7 In-Context

5 for you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor is to come on his head, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth. It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines."
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name;
7 but he said to me, "You shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.' "
8 Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, "O Lord, I pray, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born."
9 God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. That is [one separated] or [one consecrated]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.