Israel again did evil, and God gave them into Philistine hands for forty years. In Zorah lived Manoah of the tribe of Dan. His wife had no children. An angel of the LORD appeared to her and said that though she had been unable to bear children, she would conceive and have a son.
The angel told her not to drink wine or strong drink or eat anything unclean. No razor was to touch the boy’s head, because he would be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He would begin to save Israel from Philistine hands. She ran to Manoah and said that a man of God had appeared, looking like an angel and causing great fear. She had not asked his origin or name.
Manoah prayed that the man of God would return to teach them what to do for the child. God heard him. The angel appeared again while Manoah’s wife sat alone in a field. She ran to call her husband. Manoah came and asked whether this was the man who had spoken to his wife. He answered that he was.
Manoah asked what the boy’s way of life and work should be. The angel repeated that the woman must keep all that had been commanded: no product of the vine, no wine or strong drink, nothing unclean. Manoah asked him to remain while they prepared a young goat. The angel said he would not eat, but that a burnt offering should be offered to the LORD. Manoah did not know he was an angel.
When Manoah asked the name so that they could honor him when his word came true, the angel called his name wonderful. Manoah offered a young goat and grain offering on a rock. As Manoah and his wife watched, the angel did a wondrous thing: when the flame rose from the altar, the angel rose in it. They fell facedown.
The angel did not appear again. Manoah then knew that he had seen an angel and feared that they would die. His wife answered that God would not have accepted their offering, shown them these things, or announced this message if death had been intended.
She gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew, and the LORD blessed him. The Spirit of the LORD began to stir him between Zorah and Eshtaol in Mahaneh-dan.