What did the angel tell Samson’s mother about the Nazirite requirements?

The messenger told Manoah’s wife not to drink wine or strong drink and not to eat anything unclean, because the child would be a Nazirite to God from the womb (Judges 13:4–5). He also said no razor would come on his head (Judges 13:5).

Passage context

In Judges 13:1–7 Israel again does what is wrong before Yahweh, and the result is a long period under Philistine control. The story then narrows to a couple from Zorah: Manoah and his wife, who has been unable to have children. A divine messenger appears to the woman and promises a son. These verses open a new judge cycle by repeating the familiar pattern of Israel’s repeated wrongdoing and resulting oppression, but they immediately slow down into a birth announcement narrative.

Why it matters

Judges 13:1–7 begins a new cycle with a familiar pattern: Israel again does what is evil “in Yahweh’s sight,” and Yahweh hands them over to Philistine control for a long stretch (“forty years”). That sets the problem the Samson story will address. The passage then shifts from national crisis to a household: Manoah and his wife in Zorah.

Read carefully

A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.

Keep reading

Start with Judges 13:4-5, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.