Verse Lens · Expanded explanation

Judges 13:7 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 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.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse repeats the promise, restrictions, lifelong consecration, and death horizon to Manoah.

Read It With

  • Judges 13:1–7

Read Judges 13:1–7 together. This verse repeats the promise, restrictions, lifelong consecration, and death horizon to Manoah. 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, repeats the promise, restrictions, lifelong consecration, and death horizon to Manoah.

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. 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. 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. 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. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

Verse 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. 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. 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

  1. Philistine domination follows Israel's renewed evil without a recorded cry.
  2. The messenger addresses the infertile woman directly, promises conception, and gives prenatal restrictions tied to the child's lifelong Nazirite identity.
  3. He says the son will begin deliverance, and the woman accurately reports the encounter and promise to Manoah.

What This Verse Is Not Saying

Infertility is not punishment or lesser personhood.

Prenatal restrictions must not be imposed coercively on modern pregnant people from this narrative.

A divine calling does not guarantee that every later act by Samson is approved.

What Remains True

Repeats the promise, restrictions, lifelong consecration, and death horizon to Manoah. 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 13:7 repeats the promise, restrictions, lifelong consecration, and death horizon to Manoah, 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 13:7'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.

Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.

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 act
Sources 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 ↗
Open the complete thought-unit research record
Open a verse without taking it out of context.

Try Judges 2:18, Judg 2:18, or Jdg 2:18.

Choose book, chapter, and verse