Now there was a certain man of Saraa, and of the race of Dan, whose name was Manue, and his wife was barren.
וַיְהִי֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֧ד מִצָּרְעָ֛ה מִמִּשְׁפַּ֥חַת הַדָּנִ֖י וּשְׁמ֣וֹ מָנ֑וֹחַ וְאִשְׁתּ֥וֹ עֲקָרָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א יָלָֽדָה׃
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Samson's father came from the tribe of Dan and held a reverent fear of God; while he may not have been of great stature, he possessed other commendable qualities. His mother, though unable to bear children, was rich in spiritual virtues. Through her virtuous disposition, she was graced with a vision of an angel, adhered to divine commands, and realized the prophecy spoken to her.
In those times, specifically during the period of the Israelites' subjugation by the Philistines toward the conclusion of the era of Judges, Scripture indicates, as noted in the prior verse, that "The children of Israel continued to do evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years." The Philistines descended from Ham through his grandson Casluhim, one of the progeny of Mitzrayim, who settled in Egypt and lent his name to the land (Gen. 10:14). They later migrated to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, potentially from Crete as some sources assert.
The Philistines became more recognized than the Canaanites by the Greeks and Romans, leading to the naming of Palestine after them, referring to the territory initially inhabited by the Canaanites and subsequently by the Israelites.
During the days of Abraham and Isaac, the Philistines constituted a unified kingdom under a singular royal rule. The Philistine monarchs, such as Abimelech, had Gerar as their capital and enjoyed cordial relations with the patriarchs, united by a shared acknowledgment of one God. By the time of Moses, the Philistines were a formidable martial tribe, posing a risk to the Hebrews on their journey to Canaan, causing the Hebrews to avoid their territories despite the fact that the most direct route to Canaan passed through Philistine lands (Ex. 13:7).
In Joshua's era, the land of the Philistines was divided among five allied principalities, each governed by its own prince, corresponding to the principal cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron (Num. 13:3). The Philistines were deeply entrenched in idolatry, worshipping deities such as Astarte and Dagon, and practicing divination through Beelzebub, which even attracted foreign inquiries. The king of Israel, Ahaziah, sent messengers to seek counsel from Beelzebub at Ekron regarding his recovery (2 Kings 1:2).
During the period of the Judges, the Philistines began launching invasions against the Israelites, particularly pressing the tribes of Simeon, Dan, Ephraim, and Judah. A century post the Israelites' settlement in Canaan, the Philistines, who were plundering the Hebrews, faced defeat by Judge Shamgar (Judges 3:31). Following Judge Jair’s death, the Lord allowed the Israelites to be overtaken by the Philistines due to their worship of Philistine idols (Judges 10:8). The duration of this subjugation remains uncertain, but it persisted continuously for forty years, with the Hebrews subjected to Philistine rule (Judges 15:11). The root of their suffering lay in the same transgressions as before, as the Hebrews forsook their devotion to the Lord in favor of false gods.
Yet the compassionate Lord had already ordained a deliverer for His people in Samson, who served as a judge over Israel for twenty years (Judges 15:20). During his tenure, he initiated the deliverance of Israel from Philistine oppression (Judges 13:5). Although he could not entirely break their dominion, his valiant acts against the Philistines inflicted significant damage, culminating in his own demise alongside many Philistines when he collapsed their idol's temple.
The liberation of the Hebrews from Philistine control was furthered by the rebellion of Jephthah against them after Samson (Judges 16:27-31), though it was not enduring, as the Philistines regained dominance under Eli, the judge and high priest. The onset of the forty years of Philistine oppression closely aligns with the miraculous birth of Samson. His mother, Manoah's wife, who resided in a Philistine-adjacent city of the Dan tribe, was previously barren until the angel of the Lord appeared to her, revealing that her barrenness would be resolved.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS