Judges 13:3
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
The angel of Jehovah appeared to the childless wife of Manoah of Dan to promise that though barren she would conceive and bear a son consecrated as a Nazarite from birth, through whom God would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. The promise was God's providential answer to faithful worshipers pleading for deliverance even while the oppression rested heavily year after year with no apparent response. God designed Samson from the outset for a great work and therefore surrounded him from birth with the most favorable conditions for physical strength, intellectual vigor, and moral purity. The announcement carried strict instructions for the mother to take no wine nor strong drink and no unclean food, showing that God cares about eating, drinking, and health and gave definite direction to promote her son's physical and moral health for the work requiring careful thought and vigorous action. Care for the child begins before birth, because a mother's appetites, habits, and character are transmitted and strongly shape the child for good or evil, so temperance, self-denial, and kindness foster sound mind and body while indulgence and lack of self-control leave strong tendencies to evil. The charge places responsibility on both parents to stand as teachers in God's place and bring up children in strict temperance without fretting or harsh anger, since a good beginning at birth is insufficient without careful training from infancy.
Context and Promise
The angel of Jehovah appeared to the childless wife of Manoah of the tribe of Dan at Zorah on the border of the hill country overlooking the Philistine plain. Hers was one of the few households that remained true to Jehovah amid widespread apostasy. The promise to her was God's providential answer to the prayers of faithful worshipers pleading for Israel's deliverance. Even in the early years of the Philistine oppression God was preparing help, though year after year there seemed to be no response and the oppressor's power rested more heavily on the land.
God employed an angel to communicate with a human being, making the account an example of angelic help in God's work. The angel announced to the barren wife that although she was barren and bore not, she would conceive and bear a son. That son was to be consecrated to God as a Nazarite from the womb and from birth, with instructions for the mother's conduct during pregnancy introducing that consecration. Through him God would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines and humble the power of those mighty foes, and he was appointed to that delivering work.
God designed Samson from the very outset of life to accomplish a great work for Israel. Therefore He surrounded him from birth with the most favorable conditions for physical strength, intellectual vigor, and moral purity.
Mothers Temperance and Training
The promise that the barren wife would conceive and bear a son came joined to strict habits of temperance for her time of pregnancy, that she take no wine nor strong drink and no unclean food and avoid what she was told to avoid. The direction beginning even before the child's birth shows that her habits mattered for giving the child a right prenatal influence, and that God cares about matters of eating, drinking, and health. God gave her definite instructions about the course she should follow to promote her son's physical and moral health, because his work required particular qualities. That calling demanded careful thought and vigorous action, so his habits were to be carefully regulated to develop and prepare the qualities the work demanded.
Care for a child's health begins before birth, for God regards prenatal influence as important. A mother's habits and character before birth matter, and responsibility for the child's wellbeing rests on both parents. A mother's appetites are transmitted to her children, so indulgence undermines the child's future while temperance before and after birth preserves it. Selfish, peevish, or unstable conduct can leave a child with strong tendencies to evil, while temperance, self-denial, care for health, and kindness, gentleness, and unselfishness help pass on a sound mind and body and foster those traits in the child. She is therefore to resist temptation and control her appetites and passions by principle, with her efforts afterward as well as her habits before birth strongly shaping the child's character for good or evil.
The instruction surrounding the announcement covered both her habits and the child's training, as an example of God giving parents direct guidance. The heavenly instruction to these Hebrew parents places responsibility on both parents, teaching that parents stand as teachers in the place of God to act His mind and will in every particular. They are to bring up their children in habits of strict temperance without scolding and fretting or harsh angry punishment. Because Samson's role as Israel's deliverer required it, a good beginning at birth was insufficient without careful training from infancy in strict temperance.