35 – The Calling Of Paradoxical, Controversial Samson

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Samson is one of the most mysterious characters of scripture. He had a divine calling on his life from before his conception. This is not unlike many of YHVH’s specially chosen men, including Yeshua the Messiah. So let’s now get a perspective on the character of Samson.

Judges 13:1  The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight; and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 

We focused on this scripture last week but there is one notable thing I want you to see. Israel was being oppressed by the Philistines but they did not cry out to YHVH. At least in Egypt, the Israelites were groaning. But not this time. Yet YHVH will begin to deliver them anyway, whether they wanted it or not, whether they liked it or not, just as He did when He delivered them from Egypt. Remember, they did not want to leave Egypt back then. They kept telling Moses he should have left them there. What they wanted was for YHVh to fix their “Egyptian” oppression problem but they did not want to be in YHVH’s Kingdom which meant leaving Egypt. We see here that they are not crying out even though heavy handed foreigners rule over them. But YHVH had promises to keep to Israel’s forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He moves things along to fulfill those promises.

As a side note, I often want the Father to hurry up and deliver His people now, but He will do so only in His timing. And the same thing will happen. Some people will be moved from Egypt/Babylon who really don’t want to be moved and they will end up rebelling in the wilderness of the Ingathering place.

Why didn’t the Israelites cry out to YHVH? Maybe they didn’t think they could cry out anymore. Or maybe they were happy in their situation. After all, as long as they kept the status quo, not trying to get iron swords or generally making trouble for the Philistines, things were relatively quiet. It was Samson who stirred the hornet’s nest, much to the dismay of some of the Israelites (which we will learn about in a further teaching) and he did so because that is what YHVH called him to do. Sometimes the trouble maker is actually your deliverer in disguise.

Paradoxical, Controversial Samson

Samson was Israel’s 12^th and most notable Judge in the Book of Judges. He was contemporary with Eli the corrupt High Priest of Israel who was serving as High Priest when Samson was born, and with Samuel, the prophet (later on) who became Israel’s next Judge that we will learn about in the Book of 1 Samuel. 

Samson’s life was paradoxical and controversial, probably even for himself if he had any spiritual awareness at all. How often do we ask ourselves, “Where did THAT trait come from? Where did THAT thought come from?”. It indicates spiritual awareness when we ask ourselves these questions. I believe Samson had spiritual awareness given his final prayer to YHVH before he gave his own life to begin saving Israel. So his entire life must have been a conundrum for him. So let’s have some mercy on his because he is us!

He was at once a type of Messiah while also being the embodiment of Israel’s rebellion. That’s the paradox. He was sometimes self-willed, rebellious and broke his Nazirite vow. He is a controversial character to this day. He is controversial because most people don’t understand the dual nature of his life. Commentators and authors portray him as a mostly wicked, self-willed and confused man. At least one author of a book I read on Samson, portrayed him as a type and shadow of Yeshua. However, none of the commentators or authors saw the duality of his spiritual condition. This is sad because all of us live with this! There is a way out of it found in scripture which almost no one knows about or follows. I will reveal this when we study the lion killing event.

Judges 13:2  There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.

Zorah was a village in Dan’s tribal territory which was located on the northern border of the region the Philistines claimed for themselves.

Judges 13:3  Yahweh’s angel appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you shall conceive, and bear a son. 

YHVH’s angel confirmed to Manoah’s wife what she already knew. He told her this so that she would know He knew about the most important thing in her life even though he was a stranger to her. The fact that he was a stranger heightened his authority. Maybe she had been crying out to God for a child and now here was this stranger bringing the answer to her prayer. It was a painful situation for a woman to be barren, and now here was this angel to tell her the good news! She would have a son.

When YHVH opens a womb, someone special will be born. The prophesied son always has special purpose that fits into YHVH’s Kingdom plans. Manoah’s wife shared affinity with other barren women in scripture: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and the Shunemite woman of 2 Kings 4:8-44. Yeshua’s mother was not necessarily barren. Her womb was simply closed because she was a virgin but her womb was opened for a specific purpose just like the other women.

Both Samson’s, Manoah’s wife, and Samuel’s mothers, Hannah, were barren and both mothers’ wombs were opened by YHVH. Both men were Nazirites from the womb. The birth of Samson was the first time YHVH called a Nazirite from the womb. It would happen again with Samuel and much later with John the Baptist.

Some have asked whether Manoah’s wife was cursed for some reason which would account for her barrenness. All Israel was cursed and her along with it. Even Samson’s parents portray Israel’s broken covenant status. Being cursed was not the reason her womb was closed. It was closed so YHVH could move forward with His plans to end up, some 3,100 years later in our time, when He would once again rule and reign on the earth after having allowed mankind to choose between Him and Satan for 6,000 years. Samson was a small part of that plan and a necessary one.

Judges 13:4  Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat any unclean thing:
Judges 13:5  for, behold, you shall conceive, and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” 

Wasting no time after telling her she would conceive and bear a son, the angel now explains to her the restrictions she will endure during her pregnancy. No wine, no strong drink – typical for the Nazirite vow – and to eat nothing unclean.

What? Why did the angel of YHVH have to tell this Israelite woman not to eat anything unclean? The food laws were part already of the Nazarite lifestyle and not mentioned in the text containing the requirements for the vow. So the food laws already applied to Nazirites before the vow was taken. So why did the angel of YHVH have to give this warning?

The unclean Philistine diet may have infiltrated Israel, at least in the tribe of Dan since they were territorial neighbors. It could be that Manoah’s wife ate things, or had eaten things, that were unclean. Or perhaps she had not been eating things that are unclean but, because of the ham and shrimp in the diet of some of the Israelites who may have taken on Philistine ways, it was just a warning.

Manoah’s wife would certainly have known the food laws and she would have understood the reference against wine because her son would be a Nazirite from before conception. She would need to begin keeping the Nazarite vow for herself even before Samson was conceived so there would be no possibility of him being defiled by anything a Nazirite should not have.

Here is Manoah’s wife’s new protocol:

Numbers 6:1  Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Numbers 6:2  “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,
Numbers 6:3  he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
Numbers 6:4  All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
Numbers 6:5  “‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
Numbers 6:6  “‘All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body.
Numbers 6:7  He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head.
Numbers 6:8  All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh.
Numbers 6:9  “‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.
Numbers 6:10  On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. 

Going back to verse 5. Notice that Samson’s Nazirite appointment was for the purpose of “beginning” to save Israel. He would not save Israel as had the previous 11 Judges. He would “begin” to save Israel. It would take hundreds of years for Israel to be fully delivered from the Philistines.

Judges 13:6  Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name;
Judges 13:7  but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” 

Manoah’s wife said this was just a man of God but she may have secretly thought she had seen an angel, although not necessarily THE angel of YHVH. His face was like the face of God’s angel but how could she hope to have such an encounter with THE angel of YHVH who had personally come to answer her prayer? THAT would be just too much to hope for, right? Such a thing would surely humble us as it probably did her. There is something of her humbleness and not wanting to be presumptuous in what she said – “a man of God”, not an angel of God, had come to her.

Oops! In her heightened mental and emotional state, she had forgotten to ask the “man’s” name! I can imagine why, in that moment, she forgot to ask the His name. There she was just doing her daily chores outside when this radiant person shows up to interrupt her routine. You know she could feel His power just from His presence and the way He spoke to her with authority. For a simple village woman, this moment had to be astonishing, perhaps even frightening. Maybe the reason we don’t know her name is because she forgot her own name in that moment!

And then she tells Manoah that the man of God said she would conceive a son and had instructed her to not eat anything unclean and that her child would be a Nazirite from the womb to death. Wow! THAT’S a mouthful! The way she explained it is full of excitement.

Again, there is the instruction about not eating things that are unclean which raises the issue again. Was it Manoah who was involved with eating things that are unclean? Surely this indicates that the Israelites, at least some of them, had abandoned YHVH’s food laws.

Judges 13:8  Then Manoah entreated Yahweh, and said, “Oh, Lord [Adonai], please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who shall be born.” 

Like Isaac who entreated YHVH for Rebecca, Manoah entreated for his wife. And just as YHVH had answered Isaac, so He will answer Manoah.

Verse 8 is translated not so well. I doubt Manoah asked what they should do TO the child, but rather probably this should be translated as FOR the child. Manoah uttered no doubts about his wife’s story. He proceeded as if it was true and so went to entreat YHVH, not on whether there would really be a son, but on how to raise him.

But notice also that Manoah was not yet rejoicing over the child. It may be that the involvement of a man of God bringing the good news was overwhelming to him. His wife’s excitement over bearing a child did not seem to translate to Manoah. He was feeling the weight of responsibility and simply wanted to know how to raise the child and what to teach him.

Here is what Manoah wasn’t thinking of.

Deu 6:4  Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.
Deu 6:5  You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
Deu 6:6  These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;
Deu 6:7  and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 

This is how we are to train our children in YHVH’s ways. Did this not enter Manoah’s mind? Perhaps not because, if he had abandoned the food laws, he probably did not remember the Shema. Israel has had a habit of not doing this commandment which contributes to our wandering away to other gods.

Judges 13:9  God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t with her. 

The angel of God did not appear to Manoah to answer him. He appeared again to Manoah’s wife. The message was for her primarily and Manoah secondarily.

Judges 13:10  The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me,”
Judges 13:11  Manoah arose, and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.” 

Remember in ancient culture that it was improper for a man to approach another man’s wife to speak with her. Even in this day among the Arab people, this is inappropriate. Any man who wants to speak to another man’s wife must first go through him. Again, YHVH’s message was for Manoah’s wife first and Manoah second because she would be the one who had the responsibility to safeguard Samson’s Nazirite vow. Manoah’s job was to safeguard his wife, helping her to keep the vow.

Manoah was not awestruck the way his wife had been. His approach tells us he believed he was simply talking to another man. I love that the angel of YHVH answered Manoah as Yeshua would later answer His detractors when Manoah asked if He was the man? YHVH simply said, I AM (Mark 14:62). Just like the High Priest didn’t believe Yeshua was anything more than a man, and certainly not the Messiah, so Manoah also did not believe – yet. Even before Samson’s conception, he was mirroring Yeshua.

Judges 13:12  Manoah said, “Now let your words happen. What shall the child’s way of life and mission be?” 

“Let your words happen” is Manoah’s ascent to the prophecy. These are not words of doubt. If he had been doubting, he would have already told his wife he doubted she would have a son.  

He was matter of fact with YHVH’s angel wanting to know more details than that he will be a Nazarite and don’t let him eat anything unclean. It is incomprehensible to me that Manoah should ask what his son’s way of life should be. The Torah is to be our way of life. We are to teach the Torah to our children from morning to night and in every way we go during the day. This shows us that Manoah and his wife were likely marginal Israelites, a situation which will affect Samson as he grows to adulthood.

Judges 13:14  She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.” 

YHVH simply repeated what he had told Manoah’s wife. Manoah needed to listen to his wife as YHVH had once told Abraham to listen to his! Furthermore, YHVH’s angel commanded Manoah with his responsibility to make sure his wife did as she was commanded.

Judges 13:15  Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.” 

Manoah offered the customary hospitality meal to a stranger.

Judges 13:16  Yahweh’s angel said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was Yahweh’s angel. 

The angel of YHVH now tells Manoah who He is but Manoah still doesn’t “get it”. “I won’t eat your bread but you can turn this gesture into a burnt offering to YHVH”. YHVH will not dine with Manoah and his wife but He will accept a burnt offering. Yet, even this allusion, this clue, to whom Manoah was standing in front of doesn’t seem to have penetrated his heart and mind. He still does not know with whom he is talking.

Judges 13:17  Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?” 

Unlike his wife, Manoah remembers to ask for the man’s name. If this is a prophet, Manoah intends to give credit where credit is due for bringing the message of answered prayer so he wants his name. He might have asked where he was from if the name had been offered, but YHVH did not tell him His name. YHVH will now use this next clue to help Manoah understand who he is talking with.

Judges 13:18  Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?” -WEB

The word “incomprehensible” is a bad translation.

H6383
פּליא    פּלאי
pil’ı̂y  pâlı̂y’
pil-ee’, paw-lee’

From H6381; remarkable: – secret, wonderful.

‘Pilee’ does not mean “incomprehensible”. Some Bible translations use the word “secret” which is also a bad translation since YHVH’s name is not a secret among the Israelites who are to know His name and call on it. The best translations use the word “wonderful”. YHVH’s name IS wonderful! But did Manoah “get it” yet?

Manoah did not understand that YHVH was prophesying of Himself who Manoah’s own son would be a type and shadow of.

Isaiah 9:6  For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:7  Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this. 

This is OUR clue that Samson’s life was prefiguring of Yeshua our Messiah.

Judges 13:19  So Manoah took the young goat with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to Yahweh. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. 

Manoah offered the goat and grain to YHVH in the presence of one he thought was a mere man. There was not one thought in him that this might be an angel, even just a regular angel, let alone that this was YHVH appearing in human form. And then…

Judges 13:20  For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, Yahweh’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground. 

Uh oh! NOW we know who this is! It is YHVH himself! Only YHVH can ascend in the flame of the offering fire. What a sight to behold! God ascending in the flame of an offering made to Him!

There may be a question of why Manoah did not take the goat to Shiloh to offer it at the Tabernacle? Good question. Manoah did not know he was in the presence of God Himself. Yet he was willing to sacrifice to YHVH away from YHVH’s gates! This is a BIG no-no which was a common practice in ancient Israel. It comes from practicing sacrifices to other gods in our own back yards!

Lev 17:8  “You shall say to them, ‘Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,
Lev 17:9  and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to sacrifice it to Yahweh; that man shall be cut off from his people. 

So why was this offering accepted? It was accepted because YHVH Himself told Manoah to make it. The practice of doing back yard sacrifices was so common that when this “man” asked for an offering to YHVH, well, ok. We can offer to YHVH just like we do to the other gods we worship. It is a good thing this was YHVH Himself asking for the sacrifice. He asked for it so that Manoah’s and his wife’s eyes would be opened to who they had been talking with.

Manoah could have said he was not permitted to do a sacrifice to YHVH in his back yard but he didn’t. So why didn’t this matter? Had Manoah not been standing right in front of God Himself, it would have been a sin and counted by God as if Manoah sacrificed to goat demons. But YHVH can operate anywhere on earth. And when we are directly in front of Him, which most of us have never had a direct waking encounter with YHVH, we must do as commanded.

The Tabernacle, which is where all offerings were to be made, cannot contain YHVH. He gave His earthly House so people everywhere, Israel and the nations, could verify with their eyes that YHVH has ownership of the earth and that He is Israel’s King. Wherever YHVH is, there is His gate because Yeshua IS the door, the gate!

However, that YHVh accepted Manoah’s sacrifice of a burnt offering does not do away with the commandment to take our offerings to Him at His authorized gate at the Tabernacle or Temple. He was appearing to these people where they were because, unlike Hannah and her husband, they apparently did not attend the Tabernacle in Shiloh. But YHVh had made his selection of Israel’s next Judge, Samson, and they were to be His parents. Thus, YHVH made a special appearance before them and He accepted their offering away from the Tabernacle because He is God and can decide to do that. We, however, must always appear before Him at His place. Indeed, I believe they did go to the Tabernacle after Samson’s birth. More on that in a minute.

This brings me to the reason YHVH did not eat with Manoah and his wife. It is because they did not recognize Him.

Revelation 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. 

Eating with Yeshua is the best possible situation. The next best thing is for Him to command us to sacrifice right there in front of Him! This confrontation is the only time in scripture where YHVH personally commanded a sacrifice away from the Tabernacle. There are other instances of sacrifices away from the Tabernacle, each one of them having a different reason. But this instance is unique.

It happened this way because when Abraham saw YHVH, he immediately recognized him and fell on his face saying YHVH’s name – YHVH. Abraham had a personal relationship with YHVH. But Manoah and his wife who did not know YHVH or have a personal relationship with Him. And even though this was true, YHVH still selected them to be the parents of the man who would begin to save Israel and who also would teach us to much about Israel’s fallen condition and even our own personal conditions to this day. Samson is a wonderful study in the paradoxical paradigms we all deal with in our walk.  

Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground. They now knew they had just been in the presence of YHVH and had not perceived it until this moment.

Judges 13:21  But Yahweh’s angel didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was Yahweh’s angel.
Judges 13:22  Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.” 

Only now does he understand that his sins and having no personal relationship with YHVH have made him unworthy to see God. Not only that, they had just performed a back yard sacrifice to YHVH in the same manner as they would to other gods thus disobeying Leviticus 17’s prohibition against such sacrifices. Scripture says nothing of now this affected Manoah and his wife but who could think anything but that they both got to know YHVH very personally after this?

Judges 13:23  But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh were pleased to kill us, he wouldn’t have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, and he wouldn’t have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time.” 

Manoah’s wife proved herself to be wise in addition to being humble. YHVH does not accept our sacrifice and then kill us! If we sacrifice where we are not supposed to, He will kill us! But when YHVH accepts our sacrifice, He saves us!

Her words, “If YHVH were pleased to kill us” had other greater significance, though. These are words that were spoken in the liturgy on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for the rebellion of the golden calf. The Jews today recite, as was most likely recited back then, “While the altar and the sanctuary were still in their place we were atoned for by the goats designated by lot. But now for our guilt, if YHVH BE PLEASED TO DESTROY US, He takes from our hand neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice”.

The Jews today, and since the destruction of the second Temple, have recited this as part of the Kol Nidrei. However, from Manoah’s wife’s words, we can see that some form of accepting that IF YHVH PLEASED TO DESTROY US was part of the liturgy of Yom Kippur. It may be that Manoah’s wife’s theophany came during the Yom Kippur season, even during the 10 days from Yom Teruah to Yom Kippur which later became known as the 10 days of awe.

Manoah had offered a goat, remember? This is reminiscent of Yom Kippur. YHVH had taken their burnt offering and then went up to Heaven in its flames without destroying them! This is also reminiscent of Yom Kippur on which He accepts the sacrifices for Israel’s national sins and is why I believe this was happening during the Yom Kippur season. If so, it likely drove them to the Tabernacle for the annual Yom Kippur service which went on from year to year despite the priest themselves being involved in other god worship. One thing is certain, the Israelites never failed to bring their required offerings on the required days. This is why YHVH said:

Isaiah 1:11  “What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.

Jeremiah 6:20  To what purpose does frankincense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.”

Thus, Israel continued to do wickedly all the while bringing their sacrifices so as not to be completely destroyed by YHVH. Israel continued this practice until the House of Israel removed itself from Jerusalem under Jeroboam. After that, it was the Jews who continued continually offering sacrifices that caused YHVH to say that is not what He commanded!

Jeremiah 7:21  Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.
Jeremiah 7:22  For I didn’t speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices;
Jeremiah 7:23  but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 

This should take your breath away that YHVH has refrained from killing us! All of us! It should cause us to weep and fall on our faces to Him! All Israel needs to understand His mercy and grace to us for thinking sacrifices are what YHVH wants instead of our obedience! And we then need to praise Him for not killing us!

Manoah’s wife understood this! She knew that YHVh accepting their sacrifice was also their atonement for not walking with Him, and now they would need to because mother and son were going to be Nazirites. Mama for the time of her pregnancy; son for his entire life. I imagine Samson’s parents probably observed all that pertained to the Nazirite vow, too.

The words “at this time” also indicates she understands her yet-to-be-born son’s prophetic mission because “at that time” Israel was oppressed by the Philistines and YHVH had told her he would BEGIN to deliver Israel. She “got it”!

Judges 13:24  The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The child grew, and Yahweh blessed him. 

Scripture does not tell us if the family went to Shiloh to dedicate Samson on the 8^th day and as a Nazirite. Most likely they did because, at this time, the Israelites were still observing circumcision and, with that, the legal requirements for the offering for a son were being observed by some or perhaps many. As I said before, Israel was always ritually observant even though their hearts wandered far from YHVH. So even though there is question about how well Manoah and his wife observed the food laws, circumcision seems to have never been an issue and offerings for new babies probably were still observed. Baby Samson most likely would have been made a Nazirite at the same time as his circumcision and the offering for his birth.

Judges 13:25  Yahweh’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. 

Manoah apparently moved his family to Mahaneh Dan which is between Eshtaol and Kiriath Jearim, according to Judges 18:11-12.

That ends Judges chapter 13.

I love the account of Samson. He is so much like us. He tells us about ourselves and confirms to us that YHVH sticks with us even though we fail time and time again. This is a wonderful study and I am blessed to be called by YHVH to present it! I hope it increases your understanding and inspires you as much as it has me.