Monite Novema 1, 2021
he child shall be a Nazirite to God
ko e tamasi‘i te ne nofo ko e nāsili kia Sihova
Fakamaau 13 (Judges 13)
(v. 4-5) Pea ko ia ke ke faka‘ehi‘ehi mu‘a, ‘o ‘oua te ke inu uaine, pe ha kava mālohi, pea ‘oua te ke kai ha me‘a ‘oku tapu; he, vakai, te ke feitama, ‘o ke fā‘ele‘i ha tama tangata, pea ‘e ‘ikai apo ha tele ki hono ‘ulu: he ko e tamasi‘i te ne nofo ko e nāsili kia Sihova mei hono fanau‘i: pea ko ia ia te ne kamata ke fakahaofi ‘a ‘Isileli mei ke kau Filisitia.
(v. 4-5) Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible
Once again we read that "Israel again did that which was evil," and once again they were delivered to discipline at the hands of their enemies. In this connection we have one of the strangest stories of the Old Testament, the story of Samson. It is the story of a great opportunity and a disastrous failure in the case of a man who might have wrought a great deliverance but failed.
Everything would seem to have been in his favor. His birth was foretold by an angel visitor. The foretelling led to his special training, for Manoah his father inquired diligently of the angel how he should be trained. These facts make the story of Samson's failure the more terrible. There is an almost weird suggestiveness in the phrase used by the angel concerning him, "He shall begin to save Israel." His ultimate failure was as certainly foreknown as was his opportunity.
Samson seems to stand as a symbol of the nation in his strength and possibility and also in his ruin and comparative failure. This will be seen as we follow the story. In the light of the after years there is a tragic pathos in this account of beginnings. "The Spirit of Jehovah began to move him." Had he but yielded to the impulses of the Spirit, how different a story might have resulted.
David Guzik :: Study Guide for Judges 13
The child shall be a Nazirite to God: Numbers 6:1-21 describes the vow of a Nazirite. When under the vow, people regarded themselves as specially devoted to God, leaving their hair uncut, drinking no wine and eating no grape products, and avoiding any contact with anything dead.
From the womb: There was nothing particularly unusual about someone taking the vow of a Nazirite for a specific period of time. What was unusual in Samson’s case was that he was to live under the vow from his birth, and that his vow was intended to be a lifetime vow.
Please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean: Manoah’s wife also had to share in the Nazirite vow during the time she carried Samson.
He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines: “There is almost a weird suggestiveness in the phrase used by the angel concerning him, ‘He shall begin to save Israel.’ His ultimate failure was as certainly foreknown as was his opportunity.” (Morgan)
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