CHAPTER XVI _Samson comes to Gaza; they lay wait for him; he rises by night,_ _and carries away the city gates_, 1-3. _Falls in love with Delilah_, 4. _The lords of the Philistines promise her money if she will_ _obtain from Samson the secret in which his strength lay_, 5. _By various artifice... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:2. _THEY COMPASSED_ HIM _IN_] They shut up all the avenues, secured the gates, and set persons in ambush near them, that they might attack him on his leaving the city early the next morning.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:3. _TOOK THE DOORS OF THE GATE_] Though Samson was a very strong man, yet we do not find that he was a _giant_; consequently we may conjecture that the gates of the city were not very large, as he took at once the _doors_, the _two posts_, and the _bar_, with him. The _cities_ of tho... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:4. _HE LOVED A WOMAN IN THE VALLEY OF SOREK_] Some think Samson took this woman for his _wife_; others, that he had her as a _concubine_. It appears she was a Philistine; and however strong his love was for her, she seems to have had none for him. He always matched improperly, and he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:5. _SEE WHEREIN HIS GREAT STRENGTH_ LIETH] They saw that his _stature_ was not remarkable: and that, nevertheless, he had most extraordinary strength; therefore they supposed that it was the effect of some _charm_ or _amulet_. The lords of the Philistines were the five following: Gaz... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:7. _SEVEN GREEN WITHS_] That is, any kind of _pliant, tough_ _wood_, twisted in the form of a cord or rope. Such are used in many countries formed out of _osiers, hazel_, c. And in Ireland, very long and strong ropes are made of the _fibres of bog-wood_, or the larger roots of the f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:9. _MEN LYING IN WAIT_] They probably did not appear, as Samson immediately broke his bonds when this bad woman said, _The_ _Philistines_ be _upon thee_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:11. _IF THEY BIND ME FAST WITH NEW ROPES_] Samson wishes to keep up the opinion which the Philistines held; viz., that his mighty strength was the effect of some _charm_; and therefore he says, _Seven green withs which had not been dried; new ropes that_ _were never occupied; weave t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:13. _THE SEVEN LOCKS OF MY HEAD_] Probably Samson had his long hair plaited into _seven divisions_, and as his vow of a Nazarite obliged him to _wear his hair_, so, _seven_ being a number of perfection among the Hebrews, his hair being divided into _seven_ _locks_ might more particul... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:16. _HIS SOUL WAS VEXED UNTO DEATH_] What a consummate _fool_ was this _strong_ man! Might he not have seen, from what already took place, that Delilah intended his ruin? After trifling with her, and lying thrice, he at last commits to her his fatal secret, and thus becomes a traitor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:17. _IF I BE SHAVEN, THEN MY STRENGTH WILL GO FROM ME_] The miraculous strength of Samson must not be supposed to reside either in his _hair_ or in his _muscles_, but in that _relation_ in which he stood to God as a Nazarite, such a person being bound by a solemn vow to walk in a str... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:19. _SHE BEGAN TO AFFECT HIM_] She had probably tied his hands slyly, while he was asleep, and after having cut off his hair, she began to insult him before she called the Philistines, to try whether he were really reduced to a state of weakness. Finding he could not disengage himsel... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:21. _PUT OUT HIS EYES_] Thus was the lust of the eye, in looking after and gazing on strange women, punished. As the Philistines did not know that his strength might not return, they put out his eyes, that he might never be able to plan any enterprise against them. _HE DID GRIND IN... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:22. _THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD BEGAN TO GROW AGAIN_] And may we not suppose that, sensible of his sin and folly, he renewed his _Nazir vow_ to the Lord, in consequence of which his supernatural strength was again restored?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:23. _UNTO DAGON THEIR GOD_] Diodorus Siculus describes their god thus: Το μεν προσωπον εχει γυναικος, το δ' αλλο σωμα παν ιχθους;; "It had the head of a woman, but all the rest of the body resembled a fish." Dagon was called _Dorceto_ among the heathens. Horace, in the following lin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:25. _CALL FOR SAMSON, THAT HE MAY MAKE US SPORT_] What the sport was we cannot tell; probably it was an exhibition of his prodigious strength. This seems to be intimated by what is said, Judges 16:22, of the restoration of his _hair_; and the exertions he was obliged to make will acc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:27. _NOW THE HOUSE WAS FULL OF MEN_] It was either the prison-house, house of assembly, or a _temple_ of Dagon, raised on pillars, open on all sides, and flat-roofed, so that it could accommodate a multitude of people on the top.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:28. _SAMSON CALLED UNTO THE LORD_] It was in consequence of his _faith_ in God that he should be strengthened to overthrow his enemies and the enemies of his country, that he is mentioned, Hebrews 11:32, among those who were remarkable for their _faith_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:29. _THE TWO MIDDLE PILLARS UPON WHICH THE HOUSE STOOD_] Much learned labour has been lost on the attempt to prove that a building like this might stand on two pillars. But what need of this? There might have been as many pillars here as were in the temple of Diana at Ephesus, and ye... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:30. _SO THE DEAD WHICH HE SLEW_] We are informed that the house was _full of men and women_, with about _three thousand_ of both sexes on the top; now as the whole house was pulled down, consequently the principal part of all these were slain; and among them we find there were the _l... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 16:31. _HE JUDGED ISRAEL TWENTY YEARS._] It is difficult to ascertain the _time_ of Samson's magistracy, and the _extent_ of country over which he presided. His jurisdiction seems to have been very limited, and to have extended no farther than over those parts of the _tribe of Dan_ cont... [ Continue Reading ]