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士師記 13
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)

參孫的出生

13 以色列人又做耶和華視為惡的事，耶和華就把他們交在非利士人手中四十年。

2 瑣拉城住了一個但支派的人，名叫瑪挪亞。他妻子不能生養，沒有孩子。 3 耶和華的天使向那婦人顯現，對她說：「你雖然多年不育，但不久你必懷孕生一個兒子。 4 所以，你要留心，不可喝淡酒和烈酒，不可吃不潔之物。 5 你必懷孕生一個兒子，你不可為他剃頭，因為他一出生就要歸給上帝做拿細耳人[a]。他要從非利士人手中拯救以色列人。」 6 婦人就去對丈夫說：「有一位上帝的僕人向我顯現，他的容貌像上帝的天使，非常可畏。我沒有問他從哪裡來，他也沒有把名字告訴我。 7 他對我說，『你必懷孕生一個兒子，所以不可喝淡酒和烈酒，不可吃不潔之物，因為孩子一出生就要獻給耶和華，終生做拿細耳人。』」

8 瑪挪亞向耶和華祈求說：「主啊，求你再派你的僕人到這裡來，教我們怎樣照顧要出生的孩子。」 9 上帝應允了他的祈求。他妻子正坐在田間的時候，上帝的天使再次向她顯現。當時她丈夫瑪挪亞不在場。 10 她趕忙跑去告訴她丈夫說：「那天來的那人又向我顯現了。」 11 瑪挪亞立刻跟隨妻子來到那人面前，問他：「那天跟我妻子說話的就是你嗎？」他答道：「是我。」 12 瑪挪亞問道：「你的話應驗以後，我們應該怎樣撫養這孩子？他該做什麼？」 13 耶和華的天使說：「你的妻子必須謹記我的一切吩咐。 14 她不可吃葡萄樹所結的果實，淡酒和烈酒都不可喝，不可吃任何不潔之物。她必須遵行我的一切吩咐。」

15 瑪挪亞說：「請你留下來，我們要預備一隻山羊羔給你吃。」 16 當時，瑪挪亞仍然不知道那人是耶和華的天使。天使說：「我就是留下來也不會吃你預備的食物。如果你預備燔祭，就把它獻給耶和華吧！」 17 瑪挪亞說：「請告訴我你的名字，當一切應驗的時候，我們好向你表達敬意。」 18 耶和華的天使說：「何必問我的名字呢？我的名字奇妙難測。」 19 於是，瑪挪亞就把一隻山羊羔和素祭放在磐石上，獻給耶和華。就在這時候，天使在瑪挪亞和他妻子面前行了一件奇妙的事： 20 火焰從祭壇上升起的時候，耶和華的天使也在祭壇的火焰中升上去了。瑪挪亞夫婦見狀，便俯伏在地。

21 耶和華的天使後來沒再向瑪挪亞和他妻子顯現，瑪挪亞才知道他是耶和華的天使。 22 瑪挪亞對妻子說：「我們必死無疑，因為我們看見了上帝。」 23 他妻子卻說：「如果耶和華要殺我們，祂就不會接受我們的燔祭和素祭了，也不會讓我們看見這些事並告訴我們這些話了。」

24 後來瑪挪亞的妻子生了個兒子，她給孩子取名叫參孫。這孩子漸漸長大，耶和華賜福給他。 25 當他在瑣拉和以實陶之間的瑪哈尼·但的時候，耶和華的靈開始感動他。

Footnotes

  1. 13·5 「拿細耳人」參見民數記6·1-8。
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Judges 13
New English Translation

Samson’s Birth

13 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight,[a] so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.[b] 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “You[c] are infertile and childless,[d] but you will conceive and have a son. 4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[e] 5 Look, you will conceive and have a son.[f] You must never cut his hair,[g] for the child will be dedicated to God[h] from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power[i] of the Philistines.”

6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God[j] came to me! He looked like God’s angel—he was very awesome.[k] I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son.[l] So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[m] For the child will be dedicated[n] to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

8 Manoah prayed to the Lord,[o] “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God[p] to visit[q] us again, so he can teach[r] us how we should raise[s] the child who will be born.” 9 God answered Manoah’s prayer.[t] God’s angel visited[u] the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman ran at once and told her husband,[v] “Come quickly,[w] the man who visited[x] me the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met[y] the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”[z] He said, “Yes.”[aa] 12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true,[ab] how should the child be raised and what should he do?”[ac] 13 The angel of the Lord told[ad] Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her.[ae] 14 She should not drink[af] anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean.[ag] She should obey everything I commanded her to do.” 15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here awhile,[ah] so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”[ai] 16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If I stay,[aj] I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)[ak] 17 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”[al] 18 The angel of the Lord said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.”[am] 19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.[an] 20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in it[ao] while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown[ap] to the ground.

21 The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the angel of the Lord. 22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!”[aq] 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us.[ar] He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

24 Manoah’s wife[as] gave birth to a son and named him Samson.[at] The child grew and the Lord empowered[au] him. 25 The Lord’s Spirit began to control him[av] in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:1 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  2. Judges 13:2 tn Heb “and had not given birth.”
  3. Judges 13:3 tn Heb “Look, you.”
  4. Judges 13:3 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
  5. Judges 13:4 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
  6. Judges 13:5 tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her—actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.
  7. Judges 13:5 tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”
  8. Judges 13:5 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
  9. Judges 13:5 tn Heb “hand.”
  10. Judges 13:6 tn Heb “The man of God.”
  11. Judges 13:6 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome.”
  12. Judges 13:7 tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
  13. Judges 13:7 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
  14. Judges 13:7 tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”
  15. Judges 13:8 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  16. Judges 13:8 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  17. Judges 13:8 tn Heb “come to.”
  18. Judges 13:8 tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (viʾirenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (veyorenu, “to teach”).
  19. Judges 13:8 tn Heb “what we should do for.”
  20. Judges 13:9 tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”
  21. Judges 13:9 tn Heb “came to.”
  22. Judges 13:10 tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
  23. Judges 13:10 tn Heb “Look.”
  24. Judges 13:10 tn Heb “came to.”
  25. Judges 13:11 tn Heb “came to.”
  26. Judges 13:11 tn Heb “the woman.”
  27. Judges 13:11 tn Heb “I [am].”
  28. Judges 13:12 tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”
  29. Judges 13:12 tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”
  30. Judges 13:13 tn Or “said to.”
  31. Judges 13:13 tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.
  32. Judges 13:14 tn Heb “eat.”
  33. Judges 13:14 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
  34. Judges 13:15 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
  35. Judges 13:15 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
  36. Judges 13:16 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
  37. Judges 13:16 tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the angel represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the angel of the Lord, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ʾelohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yehvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s angel” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ʾadonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).
  38. Judges 13:17 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
  39. Judges 13:18 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective e פִּלְאִי (pilʾi, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
  40. Judges 13:19 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the Lord’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (layhvah malʾakh yehvah), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ (shureq) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא (mafliʾ) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (הוּא, huʾ) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.
  41. Judges 13:20 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
  42. Judges 13:20 tn Heb “on their faces.”
  43. Judges 13:22 tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the Lord’s messenger, not God himself. Of course, he may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Another option, the one followed in the translation, understands Manoah to be referring to a lesser deity. The term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is sometimes used of an individual deity other than the Lord (see BDB 43 s.v. 2.a). One cannot assume that Manoah was a theologically sophisticated monotheist.
  44. Judges 13:23 tn Heb “our hand.”
  45. Judges 13:24 tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”
  46. Judges 13:24 tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”
  47. Judges 13:24 tn Traditionally, “blessed.”
  48. Judges 13:25 tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”
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士師記 12
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