Judges 13: The Birth of Samson

Introduction

We continue through the book of Judges by turning to the final Judge of the book: Samson. Samson’s story is the longest in the book, and a culmination of all the other judges. As we’ll see over the next couple of weeks, Samson isn’t just the culmination of all the other judges, but he is symbolically the culmination of Israel during this period. Samson symbolizes Israel. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a historical person - it simply means the author wants us to see this particular judge as a symbol for the entire people.

But first, we’re gonna look at a couple other “minor judges” that popped up after Jephthah. Then, today’s lesson will actually focus less on Samson himself and more on the story of his birth and his parents.

A few more minor Judges

After Jephthah died we are told that there were 3 other judges that popped up. These three judges, combined with the two before Jephthah (along with him) all form the “Minor Judges”...because their stories are all relatively short.

The first judge is Ibzan.

He hailed from Bethlehem (yes, that Bethlehem!). He’s not identified with a tribe, but rather a clan/territory (usually not a good thing).

He had lots of children, symbolizing power and influence. But he intermarried them with the Canaanites. Not good! Symbolizes the continued “canaanization” of Israel.

Only ruled for 7 years.

The second judge is Elon the Zebulunite.

Identified with a tribe! (That’s good!)

Buried at Aijalon - this is the place where the sun and moon “stood still” in Joshua 10!

This is also the “northern” most Judge of the entire book. Fun fact, all the Judges have progressively gone from South to North, a creative way for the author to encompass “all Israel”.

Ruled slightly longer than Ibzan.

Third judge is Abdon.

His father (Hillel) and territory (Pirathonite) are mentioned....but we have no information on these names. Apparently the author thought the original audience would recognize them.

70 descendants over two generations - pretty good! The fact that they all rode donkeys also indicates lots of wealth. Donkeys were used to carry cargo...Abdon’s children and grandchildren were the cargo!

It also stresses an individual focus, rather than a communal focus. Which, as sin and idolatry spreads, it tends to fragment community.

Remember the “Judges cycle” from the beginning of the book? It’s basically busted at this point. Two particular details missing: the Lord isn’t involved at all (it doesn’t say He raised up any of these Judges). And the land didn’t have any peace.

Manoah did you know?

We now come to the story of the final Judge in Judges - Samson. But his story actually starts with an interesting story about his parents and his birth.

The usual refrain pops back up: the people did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

We learn that Samson’s parents are named Manoah and ??

His mother is never named! This is almost certainly on purpose.

As the stories of Judges continue, people continue to lose their identity. Especially the women.

This serves to place an emphasis on the woman, and the story as whole.

What’s the emphasis? Despite being nameless, Samson’s mother is actually the star of the story - and the wise one. Her husband Manoah? Portrayed as kind of an idiot.

They are from Dan - but here Dan is called a “clan”, despite it being a tribe (The ESV, translates it as ‘tribe’, but I think this is wrong.) They are going to show up later in Chapter 18 as well. Remember, calling them a clan gives negative connotations.

This scene is a common type-scene in Scripture.

Type-scenes are common in narratives. Even today. Most books and films follow common tropes and story lines.

In the Bible, a common type-scene is the barren mother who receives a child.

A woman is barren

A divine messenger predicts a birth

The child is chosen by God for an important purpose

Examples: Sarah, Hannah, Manoah’s wife, Elizabeth

To an extent, the story of Mary and Jesus (although she wasn’t barren).

Interestingly though, in the OT most divine messengers typically talked with the husband first. Not so here. Manoah is actually going to be sidelined, and his wife is the “main character”.

This in and of itself is going to be prophetic and foreshadowing: women will shape Samson’s life and destiny.

This story as a whole parallels that of Abraham and Sarah getting pregnant with Isaac.

Given how Isaac’s story turned out, a reader might see this set up and think, “Oh good, Samson is going to be the next Isaac! Israel is DEFINITELY in good hands!”

An angel appears to the woman, tells her that she is going to have a son. He gives her very specific commands: Don’t drink alcohol, don’t eat anything unclean, and after he is born, never cut his hair. Why? Because he’s going to be a Nazarite from birth.

What was a Nazarite? It would a special vow laid out in Numbers 6. What’s interesting is that it was a voluntary vow. But here, God does not make it voluntary - Samson is made a Nazarite even before his birth.

It indicated a special status. Was open to both men and women. Was also usually only for a specific period of time. But for Samson it was lifelong. It also required all the requirements mentioned to his mother. It also had one additional requirement: absolutely no contact with dead things.

As we will see...Samson breaks every single one of the Nazarite requirements.

This is where we start to see Samson as a symbol for Israel. Special and chosen at birth....but becomes absolutely disobedient.

But that’s all for later...for now, let’s celebrate! It’s a baby! The woman goes and tells her husband the good news. And he’s ecstatic right?

Actually he asks the Lord to send the “man” (angel) back to teach them what they are to do with the child. Hold on....didn’t his wife JUST tell him what the angel said to do with the child? Ladies, sound familiar?

God in his grace, gives them a mulligan. The angel appears again but...Manoah isn’t there, AGAIN.

Once she gets him, they have a powwow in the field and Manoah asks the angel for instructions again. To which the angel says, “Uhh, I already told your wife everything?”

Manoah is continually portrayed as dummy.

He apparently doesn’t recognize that this is an angel, and asks him to stay for dinner

The angel clarifies that any food should be an offering (he’s really dropping hints to this guy)

He asks for the man’s name

The angel asks, “Why? Don’t you see that it is wonderful?” (MORE HINTS)

Manoah sacrifices the goat as an offering, and the angel “went up” in the flames as the holy BBQ was cooking. (The final, most obvious hint that this messenger is divine).

It FINALLY clicks for Manoah, who then has a meltdown and says, “Honey, we’re gonna die!!” It is his nameless wife who keeps a cool head and is the voice of reason: if God had wanted to kill them, they would be dead.

All of this is ominous beginning to the final Judge of this book. But nonetheless, the prophecy came true, the woman had a baby and named him Samson.

Who is Samson?

We’ll dive into chapters 14-16 (Samson’s main stories) next week. But for now, let’s get to know Samson a little bit.

He was a Nazarite from birth.

No alcohol

No haircuts

No touchy unclean/dead things

His name means...Name?

The Hebrew word “Samson” really can just mean “Name”. It can also mean “Little Sun” or “Sun Child”.

He is going to be supernaturally strong, petty, and an impulsive womanizer.

Strangely, this latter part is apparently why God chose him to be his chosen fighter against the Philistines.

Unlike all the other Judges who started with a disadvantage (Ehud’s left-handedness, Deborah’s womanhood, Gideon’s cowardness, Jephthah being an outcast), Samson has all the advantages: born to Israelite parents, chosen by God, given super strength. And yet, he squanders all of it.

Him and his family (some Danites) live in “Mahaneah-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol”. If we go all the way back to chapter 1, we see that the Danites failed to conquer their part of the territory. So they became awkward squatters in this little area located on the border of Israel and Philistia (specifically next to Judah). This persists until Judges 18.

This is going to set up much of Samson’s story: he’s always living on the edge of good and evil. He’s got one foot in each world. And he too often ventures into enemy territory and participates in their life. Again, this makes him a symbol of Israel as a whole.

His main weakness is going to be women. Especially foreign women. They will continually be his downfall. This is symbolic of Israel constantly pursuing foreign gods.

He judged for 20 years, but the author is only going to tell us a series of particular stories from that time in order to convey this symbolism.

Conclusion

Samson’s “origin story” is hopeful, if not a little ominous. This has been how the author has told many stories in Judges. Just when we think things might be looking up....they go way down. The story of Samson is the pinnacle of the Judges, and symbolic of Israel’s story throughout the entire book (and kind of the OT). But that also means he’s a symbol of us - the Church. We are a people who were “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world...in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:4-5). And yet, we strayed far from God, and even now live on the edge between “the promised land” and “the world” - fighting temptation like Samson, and trying to be “holy and blameless before Christ”.