Judges 13:7, commentary and pictures

The angel speaking to Manoah's wife promised she would conceive and bear a son who would be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death, under a lifelong and perpetual vow. The mother herself was commanded while carrying the child to drink no wine nor strong drink and to eat no unclean thing, and the child was to be kept from these things and trained from infancy in strict temperance. He was set apart and raised up for the great work God had appointed him to begin, to deliver Israel from the Philistines, which required physical strength, intellectual vigor, and moral purity. That direction for the child's care applies to mothers in every age, whose habits before birth and efforts afterward greatly affect the child's well-being and character for good or evil. The prohibition of every unclean thing shows the distinction between clean and unclean food rests on sanitary principles, and true temperance dispenses entirely with everything hurtful while using judiciously what is healthful, since appetite must ever be in subjection to the moral and intellectual powers.

The Promised Nazarite

The saying was spoken by a divine messenger to the wife of Manoah, and belongs to the record of how God employs angels as powerful helpers to communicate with human beings. It was Christ himself who appeared to Manoah and his wife with definite instructions for the mother to follow to secure physical and moral health for her offspring.

The promised son was to be a Nazarite to God from the womb, set apart from before birth and from birth for his whole life until death. The vow was lifelong and perpetual, and no razor was to touch his head. His mother was therefore commanded to drink no wine nor strong drink and to eat no unclean thing, and the child himself was also to be kept from these things. The abstinence required of the Nazarite was laid upon the mother for the sake of the unborn child, lest her appetite be transferred to him, so that her restricted diet guarded his consecration.

He was raised up as a deliverer for Israel and set apart to God for a great work God had appointed, through whom the Lord would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. That work would require careful thought and vigorous action, and regulation of appetite and habits was to secure in him the qualities necessary for it. His life began under careful conditions intended to foster physical strength, intellectual vigor, and moral purity. His consecration began before birth, so his parents' habits and care were to prepare him for the work God had appointed.

Simplicity in habits by restricting appetite and controlling the passions was to keep his mental powers strong, active, and vigorous, quick to perceive what demands thought or action, keen to discriminate between the holy and the unholy, and ready to engage in every enterprise for the glory of God and the benefit of humanity. Ennobling and uplifting the race requires the power of God combined with human effort, and heeding God's lessons prevents deterioration in physical, mental, and moral power.

He was under that sacred lifelong vow as a Nazarite set apart to God from before his birth, but he broke the pledge when he became infatuated with a lewd woman. In giving to her the love and service that belonged to God he committed idolatry, losing the sense of God's sacred work. He sacrificed honor, conscience, and other valuable interests to passion.

Temperance and Clean Food

The command to drink no wine nor strong drink and to eat no unclean thing was laid on the mother while she was carrying the child, and the same abstinence was to be kept for the child himself. He was to be trained from infancy in strict temperance, because a good beginning at birth was not enough. The abstinence required of the Nazarite was thus placed on the mother for the sake of her unborn child, to guard his consecration lest her appetite be transferred to him.

Regulation of appetite and habits by definite instruction was to secure in him the physical and moral health and the qualities necessary for his work. That work would require careful thought and vigorous action, and simplicity in restricting appetite and controlling the passions would keep mental powers strong, active, and vigorous. Such habits make the mind quick to perceive what demands thought or action, keen to discriminate between the holy and the unholy, and ready to engage in every enterprise for the glory of God and the benefit of humanity.

The prohibition of every unclean thing shows that the distinction between clean and unclean food was not merely ceremonial and arbitrary but was based on sanitary principles. Observance of that distinction accounts in great degree for the marvelous vitality that has distinguished the Jewish people for thousands of years. Temperance reaches further than spirituous liquors, since stimulating and indigestible food is often equally injurious to health and often sows the seeds of drunkenness. True temperance dispenses entirely with everything hurtful and uses judiciously that which is healthful.

Habits of diet affect health, character, usefulness in this world, and eternal destiny. Appetite must ever be in subjection to the moral and intellectual powers, with the body as servant to the mind and not the mind to the body. Ennobling and uplifting the race requires the power of God combined with human effort, and heeding God's lessons prevents deterioration in physical, mental, and moral power.

Lesson for Mothers

The angel's charge to Manoah's wife was not for her alone but is part of God's directions for the care of the child, given before birth and applying to mothers in every age. It shows that a mother can be laid under solemn duty to restrain appetite for her child's sake, and it highlights the importance of temperate habits. That universal application rests on the command to avoid wine, strong drink, and unclean food while carrying the son who was to be dedicated as a Nazarite from birth until death.

A mother's habits before her child's birth and her efforts afterward greatly affect the child's well-being and character for good or for evil. She must therefore practice temperance and self-denial for the child's welfare. She is to beware by resisting temptation and by principle controlling her appetites and passions.

Selfishness, irritability, and instability in her can mark the child with strong tendencies to evil. Kindness, gentleness, unselfishness, and steadfastness in doing right in her can foster those same traits in the child.

The prohibition of wine and strong drink is explicit. Even a drop taken to gratify appetite endangers the child's physical, mental, and moral health and is a sin against the Creator.