What happensPermalink
An angel tells Manoah’s barren wife (who goes unnamed) that she will bear a child who will save Israel from the Philistines. Manoah doesn’t believe her, so the angel appears to him, too. The prophecy comes true, and they name the child Samson.
Why it mattersPermalink
God loves to use outcasts—widows, orphans, barren women, and second sons—to accomplish His glorious purpose. Samson’s Nazirite vow is unusual: it was made involuntarily (before he was even born), and it had no time limit as they usually did (his would last until his death).
Key versePermalink
And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him.