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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 16
Samson carries away doors of gate of Gaza—He loves Delilah, who
delivers him to Philistines—He destroys building, killing himself and
3000 others.
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1 THEN went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson
is come hither. And they acompassed him in, and
laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the
night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
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4 ¶ And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her,
and said unto her, aEntice him, and see wherein his great
strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him,
that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us
beleven hundred pieces of silver.
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6 ¶ And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with
seven agreen withs that were never dried, then shall I be
weak, and be as another man.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
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10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast
amocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee,
wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him
therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.
And there were aliers in wait abiding in the chamber.
And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
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13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast
mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he
said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the
aweb.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
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15 ¶ And she said unto him, How canst thou say,
I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast
amocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein
thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him
adaily with her words, and urged him, so that his
soul was bvexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her,
There hath not come a arazor upon mine head; for I have
been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my
strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any
other man.
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18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his
heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up
this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the
Philistines came up unto her, and brought amoney in their
hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon
thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at
other times before, and shake myself. And he awist not that
the LORD was departed from him.
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21 ¶ But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them
together for to offer a great sacrifice unto aDagon their
god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy
into our hand.
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24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
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27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
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30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father
came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between
Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he
judged Israel twenty yearsa.
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31a He judged Israel twenty years
What does it mean that Samson 'judged Israel twenty years'? There seems to
be very little in the story of Samson's life that would place him as a
'sitting judge' to regulate the government of Israel. Yet as a 'deliverer
leader' of Israel, he does combat the Philistines, who at the time had rule
over Israel. Samson's better qualities, other than his strength', seem to
be missed and flawed by his fate with foriegn women, a Philistine wife, a
harlot and a hussey Delilah. Perhaps the best that can be said of the period
of Samson being 'judge', is that he taunted the Philistines, who held Israel
captive, likely in tribute and servatude. And he was thus a hero in his
defiance of the Philitines and their rule over Israel. Some would wonder if
Samson was real or legend. He did likely exist but much of the real person
and his 'judgeship' has been lost in his colorful stories of the Bible and in
Jewish folklore which make him such a figure as America's Paul Bunyan.
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