[Judges, 13:2–25]
“There was a certain man from Zorah” [13:2]. There was a man from Zorah and his name was Manoah and his wife could not have children.
“An angel of the Lord appeared” [13:3]. An angel appeared to the woman and said to her: you will have a son.
“Now be careful” [13:4]. The angel said to the woman: Be warned not to drink wine and do not eat things that are ritually impure. That is to say, what the nazirite does not eat, you should also not eat.1Yalkut Shimoni, Judges, Remez, 68.
The Baal ha-Turim asks a question concerning the haftorah.2I was not able to find the source of this comment Once it is written, “do not eat anything unclean” [13:4]. Another time it is written, “eat nothing unclean” [13:7]. He speaks once the way one used to speak to a man and once he talks the way one used to talk to a woman.3The problem that is being raised is that in the first verse, the word for impurity is in the masculine form, while in the second verse it is in the feminine form. The explanation is that women advised the woman who could not have children that she should eat the stomach of a hare and she would have children. It was the custom that every woman who could not have children was given the stomach of a hare to eat. That is why the verse says once, impure in the masculine, if it was a male hare and once it says impurity in the feminine, if it was a female hare. The truth is that the term hare is both male and female. That is to say, the term hare includes both genders. The angel warned the woman that she should not eat the stomach of a hare as a remedy. The Holy One would give her a son without the remedy from the hare.
“You are going to conceive and bear a son, etc.” [13:5]. The angel said to the woman. You will have a son and do not allow him to cut his hair. He will be a nazirite to God and he will help [free] Israel from the Philistines.
“The woman went and told her husband” [13:6]. The woman came to her husband and told him: an angel had come and said to me and I will have a son. I did not ask the angel his name or where he came from.
“Manoah pleaded with God” [13:8]. Manoah prayed to God and said: Lord of the Universe, send the angel again and let us learn how we should behave with the youth so that he will be a nazirite.
“God heard Manoah’s plea” [13:9]. The Holy One heard the voice of Manoah and the Holy One sent the angel to the woman. The woman was sitting in the field and her husband was not there. Here one asks a question. Why did the angel appear in the field? Or, why does the verse need to say, there in the field? The explanation is that one should not suspect that the angel is an evil person and how relevant is it that a man should come alone and appear to a woman for sexual purposes? That is why the angel appeared in the field, where there is no forest, in the expectation that she should not be suspected [of misbehavior] with the angel. That is why the verse says, “she was sitting in the field and Manoah her husband was not with her” [13:9]. That is why he appeared in the field because her husband was not with her and she had no guardian with her. That is why the angel appeared in the field. One must give a similar explanation concerning Deborah. She was sitting under a tree and was judging Israel and not in a house,4Judges, 4:5. in the expectation that a strange man should not come alone to her without a guardian. However, she can sit under a tree in the field where all the people go without problem. From here we learn that every woman should be warned that she should not be without a guardian, not to be suspected. People should not say that she was alone with a man, even though she was a completely righteous woman.
“The woman hurried to tell her husband” [13:10]. The woman hurried and told her husband that the man that appeared to me previously, appeared to me again, during the day. It is shown in the verse that both of them thought that he was a man and not an angel.5Yalkut Shimoni, Judges, Remez, 40. That is why she said that he appeared to me during the day. That is to say, do not suspect that he appeared to me at night or also where there is carelessness, but during the day, openly, in the field.
“Manoah arose and followed his wife, etc.” [13:11]. Manoah went after his wife to the man. Manoah said: are you the man who told me wife that she will have a child? The angel said: I am he. Manoah said to the angel: Tell me what the youth should do? The angel said that he should drink no wine and eat no ritually unclean things.
“Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, etc.” [13:13]. Manoah said to the angel: come into my house and I will honor you with a kid. The angel responded: I will not eat your bread and if you want to offer a kid as a sacrifice to God, offer it on the altar. Manoah did not know that this was an angel. Manoah asked the angel. What is your name, so that when you will send a messenger to us, we will honor your words? The angel responded. Why do you ask my name? My name is hidden. That is, every time I have another name. I am given a name according to where I have been sent, and what is the task.6Yalkut Shimoni, Judges, Remez, 69.
“And Manoah took the kid” [13:19]. Manoah brought the kid as a sacrifice to God on a rock. The angel showed wonders. He drew fire out of the rock to burn the kid and the meal offering. The flame was so great that it reached to heaven and the angel ascended to heaven in the flame of the fire. Manoah and his wife saw this and fell to the ground and the angel never again appeared to them. Now Manoah knew that this was an angel. Manoah said to his wife: we will die because we have seen God. His wife responded: if the Holy One had wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our sacrifice and would not have shown us the wonders and would not have told us the good news that we will have a son.
“The woman bore a son and she named him Samson” [13:24]. The woman bore a son and his name was Samson. The youth grew up and the Holy One blessed him.
“The spirit of the Lord first moved him in the camp of Dan, etc.” [13:25]. The prophecy from God came to Samson in the area of Dan, between the city of Zorah and the city of Eshtaol. Now began the prophecy that Jacob had spoken of, that a son will come from the tribe of Dan and will defeat the Philistines.7B. Sotah, 9b; Yalkut Shimoni, Judges, Remez, 69.
The Talmud writes in tractate Berakhot. “Manoah followed his wife” [13:11]. This teaches us that Manoah was an ignorant person. How appropriate is it that he should follow his wife, since the man should go first.8B. Berakhot, 61a; Yalkut Shimoni, Judges, Remez, 68. The Talmud writes in tractate Sotah. Rav Ashi said: there were two mountains named Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson came and smashed the two mountains together.9B. Sotah, 9b; Yalkut Shimoni, Judges, Remez, 69.