Judges 13:2
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. 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.
The verse introduces Manoah of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, and his wife who was barren and bore not, childless. His household lived on the border of the hill country overlooking the Philistine plain in the early years of the Philistine oppression, when God's providence was preparing help for Israel. Israel had then been harassed and at times subjugated by the Philistines for forty years because of backsliding and mingling with idolaters, amid widespread apostasy and general defection in which only a few households like Manoah's had remained true to Jehovah. True-hearted men and women prayed with confession, penitence and faith for deliverance, though no man fit to deliver Israel could be found, and year after year there was apparently no response as the power of the oppressor rested more heavily on the land.
The verse belongs to a record in which God communicates with human beings by angels, with the Angel of Jehovah, the Lord, God appearing to Manoah's wife and to Manoah. The appearance promised the barren wife that she should have a son through whom God would begin to deliver Israel and humble the power of the mighty Philistine foes, accomplishing a great work for Israel. From the very beginning of life the utmost care was taken to surround the promised child with the most favorable conditions for physical strength, intellectual vigor, and moral purity. An important work was thereby committed to the parents in the mother's habits and the child's training, so he would develop the qualities needed for his God-given work.
The account that follows gave the mother definite, explicit directions to avoid wine, strong drink, and unclean food because they would affect her offspring. The child's physical and moral health and well-being is affected by the mother's habits, which were to be carefully regulated by temperance and self-denial. This shows the importance of parental responsibility even before a child is born, as a lesson for mothers to practice temperance so their children may have healthy minds and bodies. The verse thus introduces an account in which God gives directions concerning the child she will bear, linked to Gabriel's later announcement of John's birth, in that in both cases a promised child's upbringing is guided by divine instruction, including directions about temperate habits.