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Verse

Judges 13:4

ESV Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean,
NIV Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.
NASB And now, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing.
CSB Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer, or to eat anything unclean;
NLT So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.
KJV Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
NKJV Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

What does Judges 13:4 mean?

Manoah's barren wife has just received enormously good news. This came directly from "the angel of the LORD," likely meaning a visible presence of God Himself. She was told to expect to bear a son. That news is immediately followed by instructions about how to raise that son. This promise from God comes with rules; this child will not be an ordinary boy.

The following verse refers to the Nazirite vow (Judges 13:5). The woman's son is to live an extreme version of that lifestyle (Numbers 6:1–21). Nazarite refers to "one separated" or "one consecrated." An Israelite volunteering to live as a Nazarite would not drink alcohol or eat any foods that were unclean, according to the law, during the time of their vow. Treating a child, let alone an unborn infant, as a Nazirite is extremely unusual. To keep her unborn child from violating the vow, Manoah's wife will have to abstain from certain things until the baby is born.
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