Manoah is the father of Samson

Samson

Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....

. Manoah means rest or quiet in Judges

Book of Judges

The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...

13:1-23 and 14:2-4 of the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

.

Manoah was of the tribe of Dan

Tribe of Dan

The Tribe of Dan, also sometimes spelled as "Dann", was one of the Tribes of Israel. Though known mostly from biblical sources, they were possibly descendants of the Denyen Sea Peoples who joined with Hebrews...

, and lived in the city of Zorah

Zorah

Zorah or Tzorah, perhaps "place of wasps," was a biblical town in the low country of Judah.-Location:Zorah was situated on the crest of a hill overlooking the valley of Sorek, and was fortified by Rehoboam...

. He and his wife were childless, but an angel of the Lord

Angel of the Lord

The Angel of the Lord is one of many terms in the Hebrew Bible used for an angel. The Biblical name for angel, מלאך mal'ach, which translates simply as "messenger," obtained the further signification of "angel" only through the addition of God's name, as The Angel of the Lord (or the Angel of...

 appeared to Manoah's wife and told her that she would give birth to a son. The child was to be dedicated from the womb as a Nazirite

Nazirite

In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or nazarite, , refers to one who voluntarily took a vow described in . The term "nazirite" comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated" or "separated"...

, which entailed restrictions on his diet, which the angel spelled out in detail. The "woman" (for her name was omitted) told her husband “A man of God came to me”, whose countenance was like the angel of God. Manoah prayed again and the angel returned to instruct the both of them. After the angel left, Manoah tells his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God." (Judges 13:22)

Together with his wife he subsequently tried to dissuade Samson from marrying a Philistine woman, but travelled with him to Timnath for the wedding ceremony when they were unable to do so.

The story has special importance for some Christians (primarily Catholics), because of its similarity to the story of the Annunciation

Annunciation

The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...

to Mary.