Who Was Manoah in the Bible — Meaning Explained

Manoah was a Danite from Zorah, married to a woman who was barren. Their story in Judges 13 is one of the most moving pre-birth narratives in Scripture. The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife and told her she would conceive and bear a son. 'Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.' When she told Manoah, he prayed that the man of God would come again to teach them how to raise the child. God answered his prayer, and the angel appeared again. Manoah asked, 'How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?' The angel repeated the instructions about the Nazarite vow. Manoah then invited the angel to stay and eat. The angel declined but suggested a burnt offering. Manoah prepared a kid and a meat offering on a rock. As the flame ascended, 'the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar.' Then Manoah and his wife 'fell on their faces to the ground.' Manoah was terrified: 'We shall surely die, because we have seen God.' But his wiser wife replied, 'If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a 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.' She bore a son and named him Samson. The LORD blessed him, and 'the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan.' Manoah's story reveals the faith of an ordinary Israelite who sought God's guidance for his family. His fear when the angel ascended in the flame shows his reverence for the divine. His wife's calm wisdom in the face of his terror demonstrates the partnership that God designed for marriage. Together they raised the strongest man in Israel, though they could not control his adult choices.