Antiguo Testamento

Judges — Capítulo 13

Samson's Life, and Conflicts with the Philistines - Judges 13-16 Whilst Jephthah, in the power of God, was delivering the tribes on the east of the Jordan from the oppression of the Ammonites, the oppression on the pa…

Versión

Texto — Reina-Valera 1960

1Los hijos de Israel volvieron a hacer lo malo ante los ojos de Jehová; y Jehová los entregó en mano de los filisteos por cuarenta años.

2Y había un hombre de Zora, de la tribu de Dan, el cual se llamaba Manoa; y su mujer era estéril, y nunca había tenido hijos.

3A esta mujer apareció el ángel de Jehová, y le dijo: He aquí que tú eres estéril, y nunca has tenido hijos; pero concebirás y darás a luz un hijo.

4Ahora, pues, no bebas vino ni sidra, ni comas cosa inmunda.

5Pues he aquí que concebirás y darás a luz un hijo; y navaja no pasará sobre su cabeza, porque el niño será nazareo a Dios desde su nacimiento, y él comenzará a salvar a Israel de mano de los filisteos.

6Y la mujer vino y se lo contó a su marido, diciendo: Un varón de Dios vino a mí, cuyo aspecto era como el aspecto de un ángel de Dios, temible en gran manera; y no le pregunté de dónde ni quién era, ni tampoco él me dijo su nombre.

7Y me dijo: He aquí que tú concebirás, y darás a luz un hijo; por tanto, ahora no bebas vino, ni sidra, ni comas cosa inmunda, porque este niño será nazareo a Dios desde su nacimiento hasta el día de su muerte.

8Entonces oró Manoa a Jehová, y dijo: Ah, Señor mío, yo te ruego que aquel varón de Dios que enviaste, vuelva ahora a venir a nosotros, y nos enseñe lo que hayamos de hacer con el niño que ha de nacer.

9Y Dios oyó la voz de Manoa; y el ángel de Dios volvió otra vez a la mujer, estando ella en el campo; mas su marido Manoa no estaba con ella.

10Y la mujer corrió prontamente a avisarle a su marido, diciéndole: Mira que se me ha aparecido aquel varón que vino a mí el otro día.

11Y se levantó Manoa, y siguió a su mujer; y vino al varón y le dijo: ¿Eres tú aquel varón que habló a la mujer? Y él dijo: Yo soy.

12Entonces Manoa dijo: Cuando tus palabras se cumplan, ¿cómo debe ser la manera de vivir del niño, y qué debemos hacer con él?

13Y el ángel de Jehová respondió a Manoa: La mujer se guardará de todas las cosas que yo le dije.

14No tomará nada que proceda de la vid; no beberá vino ni sidra, y no comerá cosa inmunda; guardará todo lo que le mandé.

15Entonces Manoa dijo al ángel de Jehová: Te ruego nos permitas detenerte, y te prepararemos un cabrito.

16Y el ángel de Jehová respondió a Manoa: Aunque me detengas, no comeré de tu pan; mas si quieres hacer holocausto, ofrécelo a Jehová. Y no sabía Manoa que aquel fuese ángel de Jehová.

17Entonces dijo Manoa al ángel de Jehová: ¿Cuál es tu nombre, para que cuando se cumpla tu palabra te honremos?

18Y el ángel de Jehová respondió: ¿Por qué preguntas por mi nombre, que es admirable?

19Y Manoa tomó un cabrito y una ofrenda, y los ofreció sobre una peña a Jehová; y el ángel hizo milagro ante los ojos de Manoa y de su mujer.

20Porque aconteció que cuando la llama subía del altar hacia el cielo, el ángel de Jehová subió en la llama del altar ante los ojos de Manoa y de su mujer, los cuales se postraron en tierra.

21Y el ángel de Jehová no volvió a aparecer a Manoa ni a su mujer. Entonces conoció Manoa que era el ángel de Jehová.

22Y dijo Manoa a su mujer: Ciertamente moriremos, porque a Dios hemos visto.

23Y su mujer le respondió: Si Jehová nos quisiera matar, no aceptaría de nuestras manos el holocausto y la ofrenda, ni nos hubiera mostrado todas estas cosas, ni ahora nos habría anunciado esto.

24Y la mujer dio a luz un hijo, y le puso por nombre Sansón. Y el niño creció, y Jehová lo bendijo.

25Y el Espíritu de Jehová comenzó a manifestarse en él en los campamentos de Dan, entre Zora y Estaol.

CARL FRIEDRICH KEIL AND FRANZ DELITZSCH OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARY

Versículo 1

I. Birth of Samson. - Jdg 13:1. The oppression of the Israelites by the Philistines, which is briefl…

Birth of Samson. - Jdg 13:1. The oppression of the Israelites by the Philistines, which is briefly hinted at in Jdg 10:7, is noticed again here with the standing formula, "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord," etc. (cf. Jdg 10:6; Jdg 4:1; Jdg 3:12), as an introduction to the account of the life and acts of Samson, who began to deliver Israel from the hands of these enemies. Not only the birth of Samson, but the prediction of his birth, also fell, according to Jdg 13:5, within the period of the rule of the Philistines over Israel. Now, as their oppression lasted forty years, and Samson judged Israel for twenty years during that oppression (Jdg 15:20; Jdg 16:31), he must have commenced his judgeship at an early age, probably before the completion of his twentieth year; and with this the statement in Judg 14, that his marriage with a Philistine woman furnished the occasion for his conflicts with these enemies of his people, fully agrees. The end of the forty years of the supremacy of the Philistines is not given in this book, which closes with the death of Samson. It did not terminate till the great victory which the Israelites gained over their enemies under the command of Samuel (1 Sam 7). Twenty years before this victory the Philistines had sent back the ark which they had taken from the Israelites, after keeping it for seven months in their own land (Sa1 7:2, and Sa1 6:1). It was within these twenty years that most of the acts of Samson occurred. His first affair with the Philistines, however, namely on the occasion of his marriage, took place a year or two before this defeat of the Israelites, in which the sons of Eli were slain, the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines, and the high priest Eli fell from his seat and broke his neck on receiving the terrible news (Sa1 4:18). Consequently Eli died a short time after the first appearance of Samson.

Versículo 2

II. Whilst the Israelites were given into the hands of the Philistines on account of their sins, and …

Whilst the Israelites were given into the hands of the Philistines on account of their sins, and were also severely oppressed in Gilead on the part of the Ammonites, the angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, a Danite from Zorea, i.e., Sur'a, on the western slope of the mountains of Judah (see at Jos 15:33). Mishpachath Dani (the family of the Danites) is used interchangeably with shebet Dani (the tribe of the Danites: see Jdg 18:2, Jdg 18:11, and Jdg 18:1, Jdg 18:30), which may be explained on this ground, that according to Num 26:42-43, all the Danites formed but one family, viz., the family of the Shuhamites. The angel of the Lord announced to this woman, who was barren, "Thou wilt conceive and bear a son. And now beware, drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean: for, behold, thou wilt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head; for a vowed man of God (Nazir) will the boy be from his mother's womb," i.e., his whole life long, "to the day of his death," as the angel expressly affirmed, according to Jdg 13:7. The three prohibitions which the angel of the Lord imposed upon the woman were the three things which distinguished the condition of a Nazarite (see at Num 6:1-8, and the explanation given there of the Nazarite vow). The only other thing mentioned in the Mosaic law is the warning against defilement from contact with the dead, which does not seem to have been enforced in the case of Samson. When the angel added still further, "And he (the Nazarite) will begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines," he no doubt intended to show that his power to effect this deliverance would be closely connected with his condition as a Nazarite. The promised son was to be a Nazarite all his life long, because he was to begin to deliver Israel out of the power of his foes. And in order that he might be so, his mother was to share in the renunciations of the Nazarite vow during the time of her pregnancy. Whilst the appearance of the angel of the Lord contained the practical pledge that the Lord still acknowledged His people, though He had given them into the hands of their enemies; the message of the angel contained this lesson and warning for Israel, that it could only obtain deliverance from its foes by seeking after a life of consecration to the Lord, such as the Nazarites pursued, so as to realize the idea of the priestly character to which Israel had been called as the people of Jehovah, by abstinence from the deliciae carnis, and everything that was unclean, as being emanations of sin, and also by a complete self-surrender to the Lord (see Pentateuch, p. 674).

Versículo 6

III. The woman told her husband of this appearance: "A man of God," she said (lit., the man of God, vi…

The woman told her husband of this appearance: "A man of God," she said (lit., the man of God, viz., the one just referred to), "came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name," etc. "Man of God" was the expression used to denote a prophet, or a man who stood in immediate intercourse with God, such as Moses and others (see at Deu 33:1). "Angel of God" is equivalent to "angel of the Lord" (Jdg 2:1; Jdg 6:11), the angel in whom the invisible God reveals himself to men. The woman therefore imagined the person who appeared to her to have been a prophet, whose majestic appearance, however, had produced the impression that he was a superior being; consequently she had not ventured to ask him either his name or where he came from.

Versículo 8

IV. Being firmly convinced of the truth of this announcement, and at the same time reflecting upon th…

Being firmly convinced of the truth of this announcement, and at the same time reflecting upon the obligation which it imposed upon the parents, Manoah prayed to the Lord that He would let the man of God whom He had sent come to them again, to teach them what they were to do to the boy that should be born, i.e., how they should treat him. היּוּלד, according to the Keri היּלּד, is a participle Pual with the מ dropped (see Ewald, 169, b.). This prayer was heard. The angel of God appeared once more to the woman when she was sitting alone in the field without her husband.

Versículo 10

V. Then she hastened to fetch her husband, who first of all inquired of the person who had appeared,…

Then she hastened to fetch her husband, who first of all inquired of the person who had appeared, "Art thou the man who said to the woman" (sc., what has been related in Jdg 13:3-5)? And when this was answered in the affirmative, he said still further (Jdg 13:12), "Should thy word then come to pass, what will be the manner of the boy, and his doing?" The plural דּבריך is construed ad sensum with the singular verb, because the words form one promise, so that the expression is not to be taken distributively, as Rosenmller supposes. This also applies to Jdg 13:17, Mishpat, the right belonging to a boy, i.e., the proper treatment of him.

Versículo 13

VI. The angel of the Lord then repeated the instructions which he had already given to the woman in J…

The angel of the Lord then repeated the instructions which he had already given to the woman in Jdg 13:4, simply adding to the prohibition of wine and strong drink the caution not to eat of anything that came from the vine, in accordance with Num 6:3.

Versículo 15

VII. As Manoah had not yet recognised in the man the angel of the Lord, as is observed by way of expla…

As Manoah had not yet recognised in the man the angel of the Lord, as is observed by way of explanation in Jdg 13:16, he wished, like Gideon (Jdg 6:18), to give a hospitable entertainment to the man who had brought him such joyful tidings, and therefore said to him, "Let us detain thee, and prepare a kid for thee." The construction לפניך נעשׂה is a pregnant one: "prepare and set before thee." On the fact itself, see Jdg 6:19.

Versículo 16

VIII. The angel of the Lord replied, "If thou wilt detain me (sc., that I may eat), I will not eat of t…

The angel of the Lord replied, "If thou wilt detain me (sc., that I may eat), I will not eat of thy food (אכל with בּ, to eat thereat, i.e., thereof, as in Exo 12:43; Lev 22:11); but if thou wilt prepare a burnt-offering for Jehovah, then offer it."

Versículo 17

IX. Manoah then asked his name: שׁמך מי, lit., "Who is thy name?" מי inquires after the person; מה, t…

Manoah then asked his name: שׁמך מי, lit., "Who is thy name?" מי inquires after the person; מה, the nature of quality (see Ewald, 325, a.). "For if thy word come to pass, we will do thee honour." This was the reason why he asked after his name. כּבּד, to honour by presents, so as to show one's self grateful (see Num 22:17, Num 22:37; Num 24:11).

Versículo 18

X. The angel replied, "Why askest thou then after my name? truly it is wonderful." The Kethibh פלאי …

The angel replied, "Why askest thou then after my name? truly it is wonderful." The Kethibh פלאי is the adjectival form פּלאי from פּלא, for which the Keri has פּלי, the pausal form of פּלי (from the radical פּלה = פּלא). The word therefore is not the proper name of the angel of the Lord, but expresses the character of his name; and as the name simply denotes the nature, it expresses the peculiarity of his nature also. It is to be understood in an absolute sense, - "absolutely and supremely wonderful" (Seb. Schmidt), - as a predicate belonging to God alone (compare the term "Wonderful" in Isa 9:6), and not to be toned down as it is by Bertheau, who explains it as signifying "neither easy to utter nor easy to comprehend."

Versículo 19

XI. Manoah then took the kid and the minchah, i.e., according to Num 15:4., the meat-offering belongi…

Manoah then took the kid and the minchah, i.e., according to Num 15:4., the meat-offering belonging to the burnt-offering, and offered it upon the rock, which is called an altar in Jdg 13:20, because the angel of the Lord, who is of one nature with God, had sanctified it as an altar through the miraculous acceptance of the sacrifice. לעשׁות מפלא, "and wonderfully (miraculously) did he act" (הפליא followed by the infinitive with ל as in Ch2 26:15). These words form a circumstantial clause, which is not to be attached, however, to the subject of the principal clause, but to ליהוה: "Manoah offered the sacrifice to the Lord, whereupon He acted to do wonderfully, i.e., He performed a wonder or miracle, and Manoah and his wife saw it" (see Ewald, Lehrb. 341, b., p. 724, note). In what the miracle consisted is explained in Jdg 13:20, in the words, "when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar;" that is to say, in the fact that a flame issued from the rock, as in the case of Gideon's sacrifice (Jdg 6:21), and consumed the sacrifice. And the angel of the Lord ascended in this flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell upon their faces to the earth (sc., in worship), because they discovered from the miracle that it was the angel of the Lord who had appeared to them.

Versículo 21

XII. From that time forward the Lord did not appear to them again. But Manoah was afraid that he and h…

From that time forward the Lord did not appear to them again. But Manoah was afraid that he and his wife should die, because they had seen God (on this belief, see the remarks on Gen 16:13 and Exo 33:20). His wife quieted his fears, however, and said, "Jehovah cannot intend to kill us, as He has accepted our sacrifice, and has shown us all this" (the twofold miracle). "And at this time He has not let us see such things as these." כּעת, at the time in which we live, even if such things may possibly have taken place in the hoary antiquity.

Versículo 24

XIII. The promise of God was fulfilled. the boy whom the woman bare received the name of Samson. שׁמשׁו…

The promise of God was fulfilled. the boy whom the woman bare received the name of Samson. שׁמשׁון (lxx, Σαμψών) does not mean sun-like, hero of the sun, from שׁמשׁ (the sun), but, as Josephus explains it (Ant. v. 8, 4), ἰσχυρός, the strong or daring one, from שׁמשׁום, from the intensive from שׁמשׁם, from שׁמם, in its original sense to be strong or daring, not "to devastate." שׁדד is an analogous word: lit. to be powerful, then to act powerfully, to devastate. The boy grew under the blessing of God (see Sa1 2:21).

Versículo 25

XIV. When he had grown up, the Spirit of Jehovah began to thrust him in the camp of Dan. פּעם, to thru…

When he had grown up, the Spirit of Jehovah began to thrust him in the camp of Dan. פּעם, to thrust, denoting the operation of the Spirit of God within him, which took possession of him suddenly, and impelled him to put forth supernatural powers. Mahaneh-dan, the camp of Dan, was the name given to the district in which the Danites who emigrated, according to Jdg 18:12, from the inheritance of their tribe, had pitched their encampment behind, i.e., to the west of, Kirjath-jearim, or according to this verse, between Zorea and Eshtaol. The situation cannot be determined precisely, as the situation of Eshtaol itself has not been discovered yet (see at Jos 15:33). It was there that Samson lived with his parents, judging from Jdg 16:31. The meaning of this verse, which forms the introduction to the following account of the acts of Samson, is simply that Samson was there seized by the Spirit of Jehovah, and impelled to commence the conflict with the Philistines.

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Versículo 2