A Barren Woman Receives a Birth Announcement
The Samson cycle begins not with Israel crying out but with a barren woman receiving an extraordinary announcement. Her son will be a Nazirite to God from the womb and will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. The prenatal calling and abstinence instructions form a strong annunciation pattern later echoed in Luke’s announcement of John the Baptist, though Luke does not quote Judges. Jesus foreshadowing / mirroring: Samson’s birth is announced beforehand, he is set apart from the womb, and his mission is to “begin to deliver” Israel. Matthew announces Jesus before birth as the one who will save his people from their sins. A further proposal that Matthew 2:23 (“Nazarene”) echoes Samson’s Nazirite language is possible but disputed; Jesus was not a Nazirite under Numbers 6.