1And 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.13.1 did evil…: Heb. added to commit, etc
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. 3And 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. 4Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: 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.
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: 7But 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.
8¶ Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. 9And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. 11And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. 12And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?13.12 How shall we order…: Heb. What shall be the manner of the, etc13.12 how shall we do…: or, what shall he do?: Heb. what shall be his work? 13And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. 14She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
15¶ And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.13.15 for thee: Heb. before thee 16And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD. 17And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? 18And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?13.18 secret: or, wonderful 19So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. 21But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 22And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 23But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
24¶ And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.13.25 the camp…: Heb. Mahaneh-dan
Samsons fødsel
1Israels folk gjorde igen, hvad der var ondt i Herrens øjne. Så udleverede han dem til filistrene, der undertrykte dem i 40 år.
2På den tid boede der en mand ved navn Manoa fra Dans stamme i byen Zora. Hans kone kunne ikke blive gravid, så de havde ingen børn. 3En dag viste Herrens engel sig for Manoas kone og sagde til hende: „Du har aldrig kunnet få børn, men du vil snart blive gravid og føde en søn! 4Du må ikke drikke vin eller øl eller spise kød fra noget urent dyr.13,4 I 3.Mos. 11 omtales en række dyr, som ikke må spises, da de betragtes som urene dyr. 5Du må heller ikke klippe din søns hår, for han skal være naziræer og særligt indviet til at tjene Gud fra fødslen af. Han skal tage de indledende skridt til at befri Israel fra filistrenes undertrykkelse.”
6Kvinden gik straks til sin mand og sagde: „En mand fra Gud viste sig for mig. Han så ud som en Herrens engel, frygtindgydende! Jeg spurgte ikke, hvor han kom fra, og han sagde ikke, hvad han hed. 7Men han sagde: Du skal blive gravid og føde en søn! Du må ikke drikke vin eller øl eller spise noget, der er ceremonielt urent. Drengen skal nemlig være naziræer og særligt indviet til Gud fra fødslen af og indtil han dør.”
8Da bad Manoa til Gud: „Herre, lad dit sendebud komme tilbage til os og forklare os, hvordan vi skal opdrage den dreng, du vil give os.” 9Gud hørte hans bøn, og englen viste sig igen for Manoas kone, mens hun sad ude på marken. Hendes mand var der ikke, 10så hun løb straks hjem til ham og sagde: „Nu er han der igen, den mand, som viste sig for mig forleden!”
11Manoa skyndte sig med sin kone og spurgte manden: „Var det dig, der talte til min kone forleden?” „Ja, det var mig,” svarede han. 12„Når nu det sker, som du har lovet, hvordan skal vi så opdrage drengen?” 13-14Herrens engel svarede: „Din kone skal gøre, som jeg sagde. Hun må hverken spise druer eller rosiner eller drikke vin eller øl, og hun må ikke spise noget, der er ceremonielt urent.”
15-16Så sagde Manoa: „Vi vil gerne slagte et gedekid og give dig et måltid mad, hvis du vil vente lidt.” Englen svarede: „Selvom jeg venter, vil jeg ikke spise jeres mad. Men hvis I vil ofre et gedekid, så giv det som et brændoffer til Herren.” (Det var ikke gået op for Manoa, at det virkelig var en engel).
17„Sig os dit navn,” fortsatte Manoa, „så vi kan ære dig og fortælle om dig til andre, når dit ord er gået i opfyldelse, og drengen er født.” 18„Hvorfor spørger du om det?” svarede englen. „Mit navn er overnaturligt.”
19Derefter tog Manoa et gedekid og noget korn og ofrede det til Herren på en klippe. For øjnene af Manoa og hans kone gjorde Herren en overnaturlig ting: 20Da flammerne slog op fra alteret mod himlen, steg englen opad midt i flammerne. Da Manoa og hans kone så det, faldt de på knæ med ansigtet mod jorden i tilbedelse. 21Men englen forsvandt og viste sig aldrig for dem igen. Da gik det op for Manoa, at det var Gud selv i form af en engel. 22„Vi har set Gud!” udbrød han. „Det er den visse død!” 23Men hans kone svarede: „Hvis Herren ville slå os ihjel, ville han da ikke have taget imod vores brændoffer eller vist sig for os og fortalt os den vidunderlige nyhed, at vi vil få en søn!”
24Da hun senere fødte en søn, kaldte hun ham Samson. Drengen voksede op, og Herren velsignede ham. 25Og Guds Ånd begyndte at komme over ham med styrke og kraft ved Dans Lejr13,25 På hebraisk: Mahane-Dan mellem Zora og Eshtaol.
