Normally, barrenness (whether in Scripture or otherwise) is a very sad and sorrowful circumstance. And it would be the same here, if we had not heard this before in Scripture. But this recalls the condition of the matriarchs—Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel (Genesis 11:30; Genesis 25:21; Genesis 30:1), and as such it invites a comparison with these earlier birth narratives. All these women were at first barren, yet God sovereignly opened their wombs, and they each gave birth to sons whom God used to accomplish his purposes. The same thing happened with Hannah (1 Samuel 1:11). This raises the expectation of the reader of Judges 13:1–25, leading us to believe that God will provide for Manoah and his wife a special child of promise! For what is impossible with men is possible with God, even when his help is so undeserved!
For in the Old Testament, barrenness was not just a matter of sorrow; it was considered a sign of God’s curse. So, Manoah’s wife’s barrenness was representative of the state of Israel: fruitless, hopeless, under the punishment of God.
2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children.