Judges 13:1-25

The Story of Samson

Except for Judges 15:20 and Judges 16:31, Samson has none of the characteristics of a Judge. His exploits against the Philistines are all solitary, and though they doubtless afforded relief to the Israelites, they left no permanent result. We learn much more of the internal organisation of the Philistines than of any of the other foes of Israel; and it was their continued and formidable opposition which, under the will of Jehovah, really welded Israel into a single nation in the times of Samuel and Saul. Samson could not accomplish this; his hatred of the Philistines is undying; but its causes are private rather than national; and his fate is the direct result of his unwillingness to break off all relations with them. He is a warning rather than an example; but such stories as his could not fail to be popular.