Judges 13:3

13:3 The Lord’s angelic ¹  messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You ²  are infertile and childless, ³  but you will conceive and have a son.

Judges 8:31

8:31 His concubine, ⁴  who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. ⁵ 

Judges 13:2

13:2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. ⁶ 

Judges 13:24

13:24 Manoah’s wife ⁷  gave birth to a son and named him Samson. ⁸  The child grew and the Lord empowered ⁹  him.

Judges 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ¹⁰ 

Judges 18:29

18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. ¹¹  But the city’s name used to be Laish.

Judges 11:2

11:2 Gilead’s wife also gave ¹²  him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, ¹³  because you are another woman’s son.”

Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹⁴  You must never cut his hair, ¹⁵  for the child will be dedicated to God ¹⁶  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power ¹⁷  of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:7-8

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹⁸  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ¹⁹  For the child will be dedicated ²⁰  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, ²¹  “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God ²²  to visit ²³  us again, so he can teach ²⁴  us how we should raise ²⁵  the child who will be born.”

[13:3]  ¹ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).

[13:3]  ² tn Heb “Look, you.”

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “and have not given birth.”

[8:31]  ⁴ sn A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).

[8:31]  ⁵ sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”

[13:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and had not given birth.”

[13:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”

[13:24]  ¹¹ tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”

[13:24]  ¹² tn Traditionally, “blessed.”

[11:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[18:29]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

[11:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “bore.”

[11:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in the house of our father.”

[13:5]  ²² tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.

[13:5]  ²³ tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

[13:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

[13:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

[13:7]  ²⁵ tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

[13:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

[13:7]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

[13:8]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the man of God.”

[13:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “come to.”

[13:8]  ³¹ tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).

[13:8]  ³² tn Heb “what we should do for.”