Jueces 13

VBL · Chapter 13/21

¹Los israelitas siguieron haciendo lo malo ante los ojos del Señor, así que el Señor los entregó a los filisteos para que los gobernaran durante cuarenta años.

²En aquel tiempo había un hombre llamado Manoa. Era de la tribu de Dan y vivía en la ciudad de Zora. Su mujer no podía concebir y no tenía hijos.

³El Ángel del Señor se le apareció y le dijo: “Es cierto que no podías concebir y no tienes hijos, pero ahora vas a quedar embarazada y darás a luz un hijo.

⁴Así que ten cuidado de no beber vino ni ninguna otra bebida alcohólica, y no comas nada impuro.

⁵Vas a quedar embarazada y a tener un hijo cuya cabeza no debe ser tocada por una navaja de afeitar, porque el niño será un nazareo, dedicado a Dios desde su nacimiento. Él iniciará el proceso de salvar a Israel de los filisteos”.

⁶La mujer fue y le dijo a su marido: “Un hombre de Dios vino a mí. Parecía el Ángel de Dios, realmente aterrador. No le pregunté de dónde venía, y no me dijo su nombre.

⁷Pero me dijo: ‘Vas a quedar embarazada y darás a luz un hijo. No debes beber vino ni ninguna otra bebida alcohólica, y no comas nada impuro. Porque el niño ha de ser nazareo, dedicado a Dios desde su nacimiento hasta el día de su muerte’”.

⁸Entonces Manoa oró al Señor: “Por favor, Señor, que el hombre de Dios que nos enviaste regrese a nosotros para explicarnos qué debemos hacer con el niño que va a nacer”.

⁹Dios respondió a la petición de Manoa, y el Ángel de Dios regresó a la mujer mientras ella estaba sentada en el campo. Sin embargo, su esposo Manoa no estaba con ella.

¹⁰Entonces ella corrió rápidamente a decirle a su marido: “¡Mira! El hombre que se me apareció el otro día ha vuelto”.

¹¹Manoa se levantó, volvió con su mujer y le preguntó: “¿Eres tú el hombre que le habló a mi mujer antes?”

¹²Entonces Manoa dijo: “¡Que se cumpla tu promesa! ¿Qué se decidirá para el niño, y cuál será su vocación?”

¹³“Asegúrate de que tu esposa sea cuidadosa y siga las instrucciones que le di”, respondió el ángel del Señor.

¹⁴“No debe comer nada que provenga de la vid ni beber vino, ni ninguna otra bebida alcohólica. No debe comer nada impuro. Tu esposa debe seguir todo lo que le indiqué”.

¹⁵Manoa le dijo al ángel del Señor: “Por favor, déjanos retenerte aquí mientras te preparamos una comida de un cabrito”.

¹⁶El ángel del Señor respondió: “Me quedaré, pero no comeré tu comida. Sin embargo, si preparas un holocausto, puedes presentarlo al Señor”. (Manoa no sabía que era el ángel del Señor).

¹⁷Manoa le preguntó al ángel del Señor: “¿Cuál es tu nombre, para que cuando se cumpla tu promesa podamos honrarte?”

¹⁸“¿Por qué preguntas esto?” , respondió el ángel del Señor. “Mi nombre es incomprensible”.

¹⁹Manoa tomó un cabrito y una ofrenda de grano y los presentó sobre una roca al Señor. Mientras Manoa y su esposa observaban, el Señor hizo algo sorprendente.

²⁰Mientras la llama del altar ardía en el cielo, el ángel del Señor ascendió en la llama. Manoa y su esposa vieron lo que sucedía y cayeron con el rostro en tierra.

²¹El ángel del Señor no volvió a aparecer a Manoa ni a su esposa, y Manoa se dio cuenta de que era el ángel del Señor.

²²“Definitivamente vamos a morir”, le dijo Maona a su esposa, “¡porque hemos visto a Dios!”

²³Pero su esposa le respondió: “Si el Señor hubiera querido matarnos, no habría aceptado nuestro holocausto y nuestra ofrenda de grano. No nos habría mostrado todas estas cosas, y no habría venido ahora a anunciarnos esto”.

²⁴Dio a luz un hijo y lo llamó Sansón. El niño creció, y el Señor lo bendijo.

²⁵El Espíritu del Señor comenzó a impulsarlo en Majané Dan, un lugar entre Zora y Estaol.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

An angel of the LORD announces to Manoah and his barren wife the birth of Samson, who would be a Nazirite from the womb and would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.

Explanation

The announced birth of Samson follows a recurring biblical pattern of barren mothers who receive promised sons through divine intervention (like Sarah, Rachel, and later Hannah), signaling that this child would play a special role in Israel's history. The restrictions of the Nazirite vow - not drinking wine, not cutting the hair, not touching anything unclean - were a call to total consecration from birth, showing that God was preparing Samson for a specific mission even before he could choose it for himself. Manoah's fearful reaction after realizing he had spoken with a divine messenger ('we shall surely die, because we have seen God') is balanced by his wife's practical wisdom, who reasons that God would not have accepted their offerings if He had wanted to kill them - a simple but effective argument that calms her husband's fear.

Fun facts

The Nazirite vow, described in detail in Numbers 6, was normally temporary and voluntary for adults, but in Samson's case (and later Samuel's) it was imposed as a lifelong condition even before birth.
The name Samson (Shimshon in Hebrew) is related to the word 'shemesh,' meaning sun - a name perhaps ironic given his destiny of shining strength followed by a fall into the darkness of blindness.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Jueces 13:1Israel again does what is evil in the sight of the Lord, and He delivers them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years, the longest oppression in the book so far.
Jueces 13:2A man named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, lives in Zorah; his wife is barren and has never been able to have children.
Jueces 13:3The angel of the Lord appears to this woman and announces that, despite being barren, she will conceive and have a son.
Jueces 13:4The angel instructs her from now on not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean, since these rules will also apply to the son who is about to be born.
Jueces 13:5Samson is consecrated a Nazirite from the womb, meaning he must never cut his hair, never drink wine or strong drink, and never touch anything unclean. These are three rules he will break, one by one, throughout his own story, leading to his final downfall with Delilah.
Jueces 13:6The woman tells her husband Manoah that a man of frightening appearance, like an angel of God, appeared to her, but she did not ask where he came from nor learn his name.
Jueces 13:7She repeats the instruction she received: she will have a son who will be a Nazirite of God from the womb to the day of his death, so she must not drink wine or eat anything unclean.
Jueces 13:8Manoah prays, asking that the man of God come back to teach them how to care for the boy who is about to be born.
Jueces 13:9God answers the request, and the angel appears again to the woman, but this time she is alone in the field, with her husband nowhere near.
Jueces 13:10The woman runs quickly to tell her husband that the same man from before had appeared again.
Jueces 13:11Manoah gets up, follows his wife to the man, and asks if he is the one who had spoken with her before; the angel confirms that he is.
Jueces 13:12Manoah then asks what the life and mission of the boy who is about to be born should be like, wanting more detailed instructions.
Jueces 13:13The angel answers that the woman must follow everything already told to her before, without adding anything new for Manoah.
Jueces 13:14The angel repeats the rules: nothing that comes from the vine, no wine, no strong drink, no unclean food; everything already commanded must be kept to the letter.
Jueces 13:15Manoah asks the angel to stay a little longer, offering to prepare a young goat for him.
Jueces 13:16The angel refuses to eat, saying that if Manoah wants to offer a burnt offering, he must offer it to the Lord, not to him; the text explains that Manoah still had not realized he was speaking with the angel of the Lord.
Jueces 13:17Manoah asks the visitor's name, so he can honor him when the promise is fulfilled.
Jueces 13:18The angel answers by asking why Manoah wants to know his name, since it is secret, something beyond human understanding.
Jueces 13:19Manoah offers the young goat and a grain offering on a rock to the Lord, and the angel does something wondrous before him and his wife as they watch.
Jueces 13:20When the flame from the altar rises to the sky, the angel goes up in the flame; seeing this, Manoah and his wife fall with their faces to the ground in astonishment.
Jueces 13:21The angel never appears again to Manoah or his wife after this; only then does Manoah become certain that it really was the angel of the Lord.
Jueces 13:22Manoah tells his wife that they will surely die, because they believed that seeing God directly brought that consequence.
Jueces 13:23His wife reassures him with simple logic: if the Lord had wanted to kill them, He would not have accepted the sacrifice or shown them so many wonderful things.
Jueces 13:24The woman gives birth to a son and names him Samson; the boy grows up, and the Lord blesses him.
Jueces 13:25The Spirit of the Lord begins to stir Samson while he is still young, in the area between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the territory of the tribe of Dan.