“Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.— Judges 13:3
The birth of Samson is a patterned episode in Judges. Before the strongman appears, we meet his parents—Manoah ('man knower') and his unnamed wife—whose story becomes a parable of the inner conditions that give birth to strength and deliverance.
Manoah: Rest
The name Manoah (מָנֺחַ, Manoach) means rest or quiet. Manoah represents the calm, settled state of mind needed before any true act of creation. In Neville Goddard’s terms, rest is not inactivity, but a stillness born from conviction—the kind of quiet that comes when you have accepted the end in imagination and no longer wrestle with appearances.
His Wife: The Unnamed Receptive State
Manoah’s wife, who is never named, symbolises the feeling nature—the subconscious mind as the womb of creation. Her barrenness represents the state before an idea or desire has been impressed upon the subconscious. The angel’s visitation is the planting of the seed—the moment when a new possibility is conceived inwardly.
The Angel’s Instructions: Guarding the Conception
The angel commands her to abstain from wine, strong drink, and unclean food, and to prepare for the child to be a Nazirite from the womb. In symbolism, this is the discipline of guarding the inner conception—keeping the mind free from thoughts, influences, or doubts that could weaken or distort the desired outcome.
“What Will Be the Child’s Manner of Life and His Mission?”
When Manoah hears his wife’s account, he prays for the messenger to return so they might hear more. When the angel appears again, Manoah asks:
“What will be the boy’s rule of life and his mission?” — Judges 13:12
Symbolically, this is the conscious mind seeking clarity on how the newly conceived state will unfold—its character, its purpose, and the path it will take.
The angel’s response is telling: he simply repeats the instructions to the wife, focusing not on the how of the fulfilment but on the preservation of the inner state. This reflects a core truth—once the desire is conceived, the creative process belongs to the subconscious. The conscious mind’s role is not to control the unfolding, but to maintain the purity of the assumption until it comes to pass.
Parallels with the Virgin Birth of Jesus
The structure of Samson’s birth narrative closely mirrors the Gospels’ account of Jesus’ virgin birth. In both:
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A woman is in an impossible position to bear a child (barrenness for Samson’s mother; virginity for Mary).
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An angel appears to the woman first, announcing conception and revealing the child’s mission before it happens.
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Special instructions are given to protect the inner conception (Nazirite vow for Samson; divine overshadowing and protection for Mary).
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The man (Manoah or Joseph) later receives confirmation and seeks to understand, but the angel focuses on preserving the promise rather than explaining the method.
In Neville Goddard’s terms, both stories depict the same inner process: the feeling nature (woman) receives the seed of the desire through the word (angel), the conscious mind (man) rests in faith, and the state is protected until it becomes visible reality.
Union of Rest and Receptivity
Manoah and his wife together portray the union required for manifestation:
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Conscious rest and intention (Manoah)
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Subconscious receptivity and feeling (the wife)
Only in their harmony—when the conscious will rests in faith and the subconscious receives without interference—can the “child” (the new state of being) be born.
Conclusion: The Birth of Strength Within
The story of Manoah and his wife is the blueprint for the birth of any new strength in our lives. First comes the stillness of mind, then the receptive feeling, then the guarded conception. And when the conscious mind longs to know how the promise will happen, the answer is the same as it was to Manoah: protect the state, for its manner of life and mission will unfold naturally, by the creative power already at work within you.