Verse 2

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [was] a barren, and bare not.

(a) Signifying that their deliverance came only from God, and not by man's power.

Verse 5

For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a b Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

(b) Meaning he should be separate from the world, and dedicated to God.

Verse 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 c terrible: but I asked him not whence he [was], neither told he me his name:

(c) If flesh is not able to endure the sight of an angel, how much less the presence of God?

Verse 8

Then Manoah d 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.

(d) He shows himself ready to obey God's will, and therefore desires to know more.

Verse 10

And 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 e [other] day.

(e) It seems that the angel appeared to her twice in one day.

Verse 11

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the f man, and said unto him, [Art] thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I [am].

(f) He calls him man, because he so seemed, but he was Christ the eternal word, which at his appointed time became man.

Verse 14

She may not eat of any [thing] that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any g unclean [thing]: all that I commanded her let her observe.

(g) Anything forbidden by the Law.

Verse 16

And 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 h LORD. For Manoah knew not that he [was] an angel of the LORD.

(h) Showing that he did not seek his own honour but God's, whose messenger he was.

Verse 19

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered [it] upon a rock unto the LORD: and [the angel] did i wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

(i) God sent fire from heaven to consume their sacrifice, to consume their faith in his promise.

Verse 23

But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a k 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.

(k) These graces that we have received from God, and his accepting of our obedience, are sure tokens of his love for us, so that nothing can hurt us.