THE STORY
§48. The Birth of Samson (Judg. 13:2-6, 24)
There was a certain man of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife bare no child. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, "Behold now, thou shalt bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: for, lo, thou shalt bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head: for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from his birth: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
Then the woman came and told her husband.
And the woman bare a son and called his name Samson: and the child grew and the Lord blessed him.
§49. The Riddle at the Wedding Feast (Judg. 14)
And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife."
Then his father and his mother said unto him, "Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the Philistines?"
And Samson said unto his father, "Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well."
Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.