Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Judges 13:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance.
Read It With
- Judges 13:1–7
Read Judges 13:1–7 together. This verse joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance. The renewed evil and forty-year Philistine hand, introduction of Manoah's infertile wife, the messenger's birth announcement, Nazirite restrictions, mission forecast, and her report to Manoah form the first annunciation; verse 8 begins Manoah's request for another visit.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Unlike prior cycles, Israel does not cry out and the deliverer is promised before birth; the mother's encounter and embodied participation precede Manoah's knowledge or Samson's agency. Within that movement, joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance.
Read Judges 13:1–7 together
Why these verses belong together: The renewed evil and forty-year Philistine hand, introduction of Manoah's infertile wife, the messenger's birth announcement, Nazirite restrictions, mission forecast, and her report to Manoah form the first annunciation; verse 8 begins Manoah's request for another visit.
Verse 1. 1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
Verse 2. 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.
Verse 3. 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.
Verse 4. 4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Verse 5. 5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Verse 6. 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
Verse 7. 7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Follow the Context
- Philistine domination follows Israel's renewed evil without a recorded cry.
- The messenger addresses the infertile woman directly, promises conception, and gives prenatal restrictions tied to the child's lifelong Nazirite identity.
- He says the son will begin deliverance, and the woman accurately reports the encounter and promise to Manoah.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his…”
In plain language: joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance
Israel again does evil and is given into Philistine hands. A divine messenger appears to Manoah's unnamed wife, who has borne no children, promises a son, tells her to avoid wine, strong drink, and unclean food, says no razor will touch him, and announces that the child will begin to save Israel. She reports the awe-filled encounter to her husband. Within that movement, this wording joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material narrative, textual, historical, violence, vulnerable-person, land, leadership, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Judges 13:5 does not stand alone from 13:1–7. Judges 13:5 does not establish a timeless command, ethnic judgment, or moral approval of every narrated action by itself. Its verse-specific role is: joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance.
What Remains True
Joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance. People overlooked by public power can receive and communicate essential truth, and a gifted person's mission should be stated without inflating it.
How It Can Shape Life
- Because Judges 13:5 joins lifelong Nazirite hair to a mission that will only begin deliverance, respect the testimony and bodily autonomy of women, and define a leader's mandate by the text rather than heroic projection.
Teach It Back
Explain Judges 13:5's precise role in Judges 13:1–7. Include the scene's ancient covenant setting, one material uncertainty, the affected people, and one conclusion or violent imitation the context does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Judges 13:1–7 — A promised child begins deliverance before he can actSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Questions remain about the woman's ritual role, the relation to Numbers 6, and the compositional history of the birth account. Her priority as recipient and the limited mission statement are explicit.
The instructions emphasize the mother's diet and the child's hair but do not list every rule from Numbers 6. Readers debate how prenatal observance relates to Samson's own vow status.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 13:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 13:1–7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 475-476, translation and notes on 13:1–7
Open source ↗