Judges 13:5

The context

Judges 13 opens the Samson cycle with the announcement of a birth to a barren woman. The angel speaks to Manoah's wife, then to Manoah, and the child's status and task are stated. Verse 5 gives both: he is to be set apart from birth, and he is to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.

What it establishes

It establishes that Samson's role is framed as deliverance from a specific enemy and that his consecration is lifelong rather than chosen. The verb is carefully limited: he begins the deliverance.

What it does not establish

It does not describe how the deliverance happens. The stories that follow show a personal, episodic, and morally compromised campaign rather than a national liberation. The verse sets a task; it does not promise success, and the cycle ends with Samson's death among his enemies.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Matthew quotes a prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene (2:23), but no such prophecy exists in the Old Testament.

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.