Bird's-eye view
These two verses serve as a crucial bridge in the narrative of Samson, transitioning from the angelic announcement of his miraculous birth to the chaotic and violent events of his public life. Here we have the quiet before the storm. The passage is deceptively simple, summarizing Samson's entire childhood and adolescence in just a few clauses. Yet, within this summary, we find the foundational elements of his story: divine initiative, covenantal blessing, and the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. God is the primary actor from the very beginning. Samson is not a self-made man; he is a God-made instrument. His birth is a direct answer to barrenness, his growth is under the blessing of Yahweh, and his first impulses toward his calling are the result of the Spirit's stirring. This sets the stage for the central paradox of Samson's life: how can a man so clearly set apart and empowered by God be so profoundly flawed and carnal? These verses establish God's sovereign hand upon Samson, a fact that must be kept in mind as we witness him repeatedly squander his gifts. The story is not ultimately about Samson's strength, but about the strength of the God who works through even the most unlikely and rebellious of saviors to accomplish His purposes for His people.
The location mentioned, Mahaneh-dan, is also significant. It means "the camp of Dan," a military outpost for a tribe that was struggling to possess its inheritance. The Spirit stirs Samson in a place of conflict and compromise, foreshadowing the kind of deliverer he would be. He was not a king in a palace or a priest in the temple; he was a Spirit-anointed brawler on the frontier. This is the raw material God has chosen to work with, and it is a potent reminder that God's grace is not limited to the polished and respectable.
Outline
- 1. The Nazirite's Upbringing (Judges 13:24-25)
- a. A Son is Given (v. 24a)
- b. A Blessing is Granted (v. 24b)
- c. A Spirit is Stirring (v. 25)
Context In Judges
The book of Judges chronicles a dark and cyclical period in Israel's history summarized by the refrain, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). The nation follows a dreary pattern: sin, suffering under oppression, supplication to God, and salvation through a divinely raised judge. Samson is the twelfth and final judge recorded in this cycle. His story comes after the accounts of more conventional, though still flawed, leaders like Gideon and Jephthah. The Samson narrative represents the nadir of this period. The judge himself embodies the spiritual state of the nation: consecrated to God yet constantly dallying with the world, physically strong but morally weak, and aware of his calling but driven by personal appetites. The forty-year Philistine oppression mentioned at the beginning of chapter 13 is the backdrop for this story. Israel is so beaten down that they don't even cry out for deliverance. God's intervention here is entirely an act of grace, initiated not by Israel's repentance, but by His own covenant faithfulness. The birth of Samson is God's answer to a prayer that His people had forgotten how to pray.
Key Issues
- The Nature of God's Blessing
- The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
- God's Use of Flawed Instruments
- The Relationship Between Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
- The Meaning of "Mahaneh-dan"
God's Peculiar Preparations
Before we see Samson ripping lions apart or toppling temples, the Spirit of God gives us this brief, almost pastoral, interlude. It is a moment of calm that highlights the divine origin of the chaos that is to follow. We are meant to see that everything Samson is, and everything he does, begins with God. The angel of Yahweh announced his birth, his mother followed the Nazirite restrictions, and Yahweh Himself blessed the boy's growth. This is not the story of a talented thug who happens to be used by God. This is the story of God's chosen instrument, set apart from the womb for a divine purpose.
The problem, as we will see, is that the instrument is cracked. Samson is a consecrated man who lives a largely unconsecrated life. He is a walking contradiction. And this is precisely why his story is so instructive. It demonstrates that God's plan is not ultimately dependent on the moral perfection of His servants. He can, and does, draw straight lines with crooked sticks. The blessing and the stirring of the Spirit are real, even when the recipient of these gifts is behaving like a fool. This should be a profound encouragement to us, not because it excuses our sin, but because it magnifies the tenacious grace of a God who refuses to abandon His purposes or His people, even when they give Him every reason to do so.
Verse by Verse Commentary
24 Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up, and Yahweh blessed him.
The narrative moves with divine efficiency. The promise made by the angel of Yahweh is fulfilled without fanfare. Manoah's wife, a woman formerly barren, now holds her son. The giving of the name Samson is significant. It is related to the Hebrew word for "sun," which could mean something like "little sun" or "sunny." Given the darkness of the times, a little bit of sun was exactly what Israel needed. But there is also an irony here, as Samson's life would be marked by a different kind of brightness, the flash of divine power, often followed by the darkness of his own moral failures. The text then summarizes his entire childhood in two strokes: "the child grew up, and Yahweh blessed him." This is covenant language. This is not simply about getting taller and avoiding childhood diseases. For Yahweh to bless a child in the covenant means that God's favor was upon him, nurturing him, strengthening him, and preparing him for his appointed task. It is the same kind of language used for other covenant children like Samuel (1 Sam. 2:26) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:80). This blessing is God's investment in Samson. It is the foundation upon which his entire life, both the triumphs and the tragedies, will be built. God is setting His man apart, equipping him from his earliest days for the conflict to come.
25 And the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Here the quiet upbringing gives way to the first rumblings of Samson's tumultuous calling. The "Spirit of Yahweh" is the third person of the Trinity, the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at creation and who would later descend upon Jesus at His baptism. In the Old Testament, the Spirit often came upon individuals in a powerful, task-oriented way, equipping them for specific acts of leadership, prophecy, or, in this case, deliverance. The word "stir" is a wonderful translation. The Hebrew word can mean to impel, to move, or to trouble. It suggests an inner restlessness, a divine agitation. Samson begins to feel the first stirrings of the immense power that God has placed within him. He is like a young eagle feeling the instinct to fly, a racehorse pawing the ground before the gates open. This is not a gentle nudge; it is a divine provocation.
The location is also telling. Zorah and Eshtaol were towns on the border between the tribal allotments of Dan and Judah, right on the frontier with the Philistines. Mahaneh-dan, "the camp of Dan," was a military encampment, a place of conflict. The Spirit of God does not begin to stir Samson in a quiet school of the prophets, but on the front lines. The Spirit was moving him toward confrontation with the enemies of God's people. This stirring was the initial mobilization for a war that Samson would wage for the next twenty years. It was God's declaration of hostilities against the Philistines, and He was sounding the alarm in the heart of His chosen champion.
Application
The story of Samson's beginnings is a powerful reminder that God is the great initiator. He does not wait for us to get our act together before He begins to work. He blesses and He stirs according to His own sovereign good pleasure. For parents, this is a profound comfort. We are called to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but we are not the ultimate source of their growth or their calling. We plant and we water, but it is "Yahweh" who blesses and gives the increase. We are to raise our children by faith, trusting in the covenant promises of God, recognizing that He is at work in their lives long before we see the fruit.
Furthermore, the "stirring" of the Spirit is not something confined to the Old Testament. Every believer has been given the Holy Spirit, and He still stirs. He stirs us to repentance, He stirs us to worship, He stirs us to acts of service, and He stirs us to stand against the enemies of our Lord. We should learn to recognize and welcome that divine restlessness. When you feel a holy discontent with the status quo, a prompting to speak a word of truth, or an impulse to step out in faith against some entrenched sin in your life or in the world, that is the Spirit of Yahweh stirring. The question is whether we will respond like Samson, often mixing that divine impulse with our own carnal appetites, or whether we will seek to walk in step with the Spirit, submitting our strength, our gifts, and our very lives to His sanctifying work.
Samson's life is a cautionary tale, but his calling is an encouraging one. It shows that God can use absolutely anyone. He does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called. And He begins that work early, blessing us in our youth and stirring us for the battles He has prepared for us to fight. Our task is to recognize His hand, submit to His stirring, and trust that the God who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.