Jude 13

13:1 Though mentioned earlier, the Philistines (3:3; 10:7) were a relatively new presence in the territory of Canaan, which would later be named for them (Palestine). This warlike race of sea people were of Greek rather than Canaanite ancestry and settled into the southwestern coastal areas about 1200 BC. From then on, Philistia was Israel’s natural enemy and increasingly threatened its national existence. Israel’s institutions, such as kingship, developed partly in response to the Philistine challenge.

13:2 Prior to their migration to the extreme north (ch 18), the tribe of Dan attempted to settle in Israel’s southwest (Josh 19:40-48). This put them in direct conflict with the incoming Philistines. • Zorah was west of Judah, in the area newly occupied by the Philistines. Both Dan and neighboring Judah submitted to Philistine dominance (Judg 14:4; 15:11).

13:3-5 Manoah’s wife was promised a son who was to be set aside from his birth as a Nazirite (see Num 6:1-21; cp. 1 Sam 1:11). The requirement that Samson’s hair must never be cut would be central to his story.

13:4 any forbidden food: See Lev 11.

13:6-7 Several times in Scripture, an angel appeared to women who were unable to become pregnant (13:2) to announce divine intervention through the birth of a child (see Luke 1:5-25; cp. Gen 18; 1 Sam 1).

13:12-13 In light of 13:4-5, Manoah’s question may seem redundant, but from 13:8 it is apparent that Manoah felt a keen personal responsibility for raising such a child. The angel responded graciously, but again stressed the wife’s responsibility, which explains why it was she, not Manoah, who was first approached.

13:15-16 Manoah would only send a visitor on his way after providing a meal, in accord with eastern hospitality. The angel insisted that any food be given as a sacrifice to the Lord. That and his reluctance to eat (cp. Gideon’s visitor, 6:17-22) suggest that this was a theophany (an appearance of God). To that point, Manoah had failed to recognize his visitor’s divinity.

13:17-18 The Lord’s name is a divine secret (Gen 32:29; Exod 3:13-14). God knows our names, but in addressing him we are limited to terms of wonder and adoration, for the true essence of the infinite cannot be expressed or understood by the finite.

13:19-22 It is not possible for human beings to take in the full revelation of God’s holy presence and still live (cp. 6:20-24; Exod 19:21; 33:20). The Old Testament frequently reports divine visitations on earth in human form; these visitations foreshadow the full appearance of God on earth in the incarnation of Jesus.

13:25 Inspired leaders are filled with the divine Spirit. In spite of Samson’s evident failures, the Spirit’s presence was powerfully at work in him. • Mahaneh-dan (literally camp of Dan) is mentioned again in 18:12; the phrase could describe a temporary settlement rather than a fixed location. • Zorah (13:2) and Eshtaol were in the valley of Sorek, about fifteen miles west of Jerusalem at the pass that leads down to Philistine territory.