Iudicum 13
1 Rursumque filii Israël fecerunt malum in conspectu Domini: qui tradidit eos in manus Philisthinorum quadraginta annis.
Again the Israeli people did things that Yahweh said were very evil. So Yahweh enabled the people of Philistia to conquer them. They ruled over the Israelis for 40 years.
2 Erat autem quidam vir de Saraa, et de stirpe Dan, nomine Manue, habens uxorem sterilem.
There was a man named Manoah from the descendants of Dan who lived in Zorah [town]. His wife was unable to become pregnant, so they had no children.
3 Cui apparuit angelus Domini, et dixit ad eam: Sterilis es et absque liberis: sed concipies, et paries filium.
One day, Yahweh appeared to Manoah’s wife in the form of an angel, and said to her, “Even though you have not been able to give birth to any children until now, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.
4 Cave ergo ne bibas vinum ac siceram, nec immundum quidquam comedas:
[From now until he is born], you must not drink any wine or other alcoholic/fermented drink, and you must not eat any food that will make you unacceptable to God.
5 quia concipies, et paries filium, cujus non tanget caput novacula: erit enim nazaræus Dei ab infantia sua et ex matris utero, et ipse incipiet liberare Israël de manu Philisthinorum.
After you give birth to your son, you must never allow his hair to be cut. He must be dedicated to God from the day he is born until the day he dies. He is the one who will rescue [many of] the Israeli people from the people of Philistia.”
6 Quæ cum venisset ad maritum suum, dixit ei: Vir Dei venit ad me, habens vultum angelicum, terribilis nimis. Quem cum interrogassem quis esset, et unde venisset, et quo nomine vocaretur, noluit mihi dicere:
The woman ran and told her husband, “A prophet came to me. He looked awesome, like an angel from God. I did not ask where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.
7 sed hoc respondit: Ecce concipies et paries filium: cave ne vinum bibas, nec siceram, et ne aliquo vescaris immundo: erit enim puer nazaræus Dei ab infantia sua, ex utero matris suæ usque ad diem mortis suæ.
But he told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. Until then, you must not drink any wine or any alcoholic/fermented drink, and you must not eat any food that would make you unacceptable to God. Your son must be dedicated to God from the day he is born until the day he dies.’”
8 Oravit itaque Manue Dominum, et ait: Obsecro, Domine, ut vir Dei, quem misisti, veniat iterum, et doceat nos quid debeamus facere de puero, qui nasciturus est.
Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh, saying, “O Yahweh, I plead with you, allow that prophet whom you sent to us to come again, and teach us how we should raise the boy who will be born to us.”
9 Exaudivitque Dominus deprecantem Manue, et apparuit rursum angelus Dei uxori ejus sedenti in agro: Manue autem maritus ejus non erat cum ea. Quæ cum vidisset angelum,
God did what Manoah asked, and Yahweh again appeared to his wife in the form of an angel, while she was out in the field. But again her husband Manoah was not with her.
10 festinavit, et cucurrit ad virum suum: nuntiavitque ei, dicens: Ecce apparuit mihi vir, quem ante videram.
So she quickly ran and said to her husband, “The man who appeared to me a few days ago has come back again!”
11 Qui surrexit, et secutus est uxorem suam: veniensque ad virum, dixit ei: Tu es qui locutus es mulieri? Et ille respondit: Ego sum.
Manoah ran back with his wife, and asked, “Are you the man who talked with my wife a few days ago?” He replied, “Yes, I am.”
12 Cui Manue: Quando, inquit, sermo tuus fuerit expletus, quid vis ut faciat puer? aut a quo se observare debebit?
Manoah asked him, “When what you promised occurs [and my wife gives birth to a son], what rules must he obey, and what work will he do [when he grows up]?”
13 Dixitque angelus Domini ad Manue: Ab omnibus, quæ locutus sum uxori tuæ, abstineat se,
Yahweh replied, “Your wife must obey all the instructions I gave her.
14 et quidquid ex vinea nascitur, non comedat: vinum et siceram non bibat; nullo vescatur immundo: et quod ei præcepi, impleat atque custodiat.
[Before the baby is born], she must not eat grapes, or drink wine or any other alcoholic/fermented drink, or eat anything that would make her unacceptable to God.”
15 Dixitque Manue ad angelum Domini: Obsecro te ut acquiescas precibus meis, et faciamus tibi hædum de capris.
Then Manoah said, “Please stay here until we can kill and cook a young goat for you.”
16 Cui respondit angelus: Si me cogis, non comedam panes tuos: si autem vis holocaustum facere, offer illud Domino. Et nesciebat Manue quod angelus Domini esset.
Yahweh replied, “I will stay here, but I will not eat anything. However, you may kill an animal and sacrifice it as a burned offering to Yahweh.” (Manoah did not realize that the [man he thought was an] angel was really Yahweh.)
17 Dixitque ad eum: Quod est tibi nomen, ut, si sermo tuus fuerit expletus, honoremus te?
Then Manoah asked him, “What is your name? When what you have promised happens, we want to honor you.”
18 Cui ille respondit: Cur quæris nomen meum, quod est mirabile?
Yahweh replied, “(Why do you ask me my name?/You should not ask me my name.) [RHQ] It is (wonderful/it cannot be understood).”
19 Tulit itaque Manue hædum de capris, et libamenta, et posuit super petram, offerens Domino, qui facit mirabilia: ipse autem et uxor ejus intuebantur.
Then Manoah killed a young goat and burned it on a rock, along with a grain offering, as a sacrifice to Yahweh. And Yahweh did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched.
20 Cumque ascenderet flamma altaris in cælum, angelus Domini pariter in flamma ascendit. Quod cum vidissent Manue et uxor ejus, proni ceciderunt in terram,
Flames from the altar blazed up toward the sky, and Yahweh ascended in the flames. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they prostrated themselves on the ground.
21 et ultra eis non apparuit angelus Domini. Statimque intellexit Manue angelum Domini esse,
Although Yahweh did not appear in the form of an angel to Manoah and his wife again, Manoah realized that the [man they thought was an] angel was really Yahweh.
22 et dixit ad uxorem suam: Morte moriemur, quia vidimus Deum.
So he said, “Now we will die, because we have seen God!”
23 Cui respondit mulier: Si Dominus nos vellet occidere, de manibus nostris holocaustum et libamenta non suscepisset, nec ostendisset nobis hæc omnia, neque ea quæ sunt ventura dixisset.
But his wife said, “No, we will not die, because if Yahweh intended to kill us, he would not have accepted the burned offering and the grain offering. And he would not have appeared to us and told us the wonderful thing that would happen to us, and he would not have performed this miracle.”
24 Peperit itaque filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Samson. Crevitque puer, et benedixit ei Dominus.
When their son was born, they named him Samson. Yahweh blessed him as he grew up.
25 Cœpitque spiritus Domini esse cum eo in castris Dan inter Saraa et Esthaol.
And while he was in Mahaneh-Dan, which is between Zorah and Eshtaol [towns], Yahweh’s Spirit began to control him.
