CHAPTER 16. SAMSON'S DECLINE, DOWNFALL AND FINAL TRIUMPH. By including Judges 15:20 the writer deliberately divided his story into two halves. The first part was, as we have seen, a story mainly of triumph against the odds, the second will be one of triumph in the face of disaster. The first began w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And it was told the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here!” And they compassed him in and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, “We will wait for morning light. Then we will kill him.” ' The leading men of Gaza learned that Samson was there. Possi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is before Hebron.' Samson, however, probably had a good idea of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And it was so afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.' The Valley of Sorek lay between Jerusalem and the sea, commencing twelve miles (twenty kilometres) from Jerusalem. It was a valley famous for its vines (sorek is a type of vine). Delilah was probably a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, “Entice him and discover in what his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, so that we may bind him to afflict him. And we will each one of us give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” ' Probably the des... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, I pray you, wherein your great strength lies, how you may be bound to afflict you.” ' This was the essence of the question but it would have been put in a fine and innocent context so as to allay his suspicions. He had no doubt boasted about his great exploit... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh (green) withes that were never dried, then I will become weak, and be as another man.” '... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh (green) withes, which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.' When he next came to see her he was probably amused to see that she had some fresh withes in her room. Little did he realise that they had been supplied by the P... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Now she had liers-in-wait waiting in her inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.” And he broke the withes as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.' It is clear that Delilah played it as a game. The Philistines dared n... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have made fun of me, and told me untruths. Now tell me, I pray you, how you might be bound.” ' On another visit Delilah tried the same tack, although this time ‘lovingly' pretending to be a little hurt and chiding him. Now she urged him, if he loved her, r... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And he said to her, “If only they bind me with new ropes which have never been used, then shall I become weak and as another man.” By now Samson in his innocence was probably enjoying himself as he thought out new ways by which to make gentle fun of his beloved mistress. This time he suggested th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.” (And the liers-in-wait were waiting in the inner chamber). And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.' Once again she took advantage of love play and sleepiness to bind him, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 16:13 a ‘And Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have made fun of me and told me untruths. Tell me in what way you might be bound.” ' These words were no doubt hidden in much love play and tender caressing, and said with gentle chiding as from one amused by her lover's jesting. But under... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.” And he awoke from his sleep and plucked away the pin of the beam and the warp threads.' While he was asleep Delilah carried out the process he had described, finally fastening his hair to the beam with the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And she said to him, “How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? You have made fun of me these three times, and have not told me in what your great strength lies.” ' Now she was getting very angry, but disguised it as hurt love. Always beware of a man or woman who says, “If you... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 16:16 a ‘And it came about that when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death, and he told her all his heart.' What sad words these are. Pressed and urged day after day by a woman who professed deep love for him, while all the time her only aim was be... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ 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 has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought money in their hand.' This time Delilah realised that he had... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And she made him sleep on 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 humble him, and his strength went from him.' Here was the height of treachery. This woman who had pretended to love him lulled him to sleep on her knees, the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson,” and he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself ”. But he did not realise that Yahweh had departed from him.' Again she alerted him to the Philistine presence, and again he was unconcerned. What did it... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 16:21 a ‘And the Philistines laid hold of him.' He saw the Philistines enter the room, their strongest and their best. He exerted himself anticipating that his battle strength would be there for him. But though he fought bravely they had him down and bound him, for Yahweh was no longer with... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.' “HOWEVER.” The word is full of significance. It was a reminder that there was hope because God was observing the situation. ‘The hair of his head began to grow again.' And who among them noticed? The Philistines did not. But S... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the lords of the Philistines gathered themselves together in order to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.” The taking of Samson was seen as a cause for great celebration. So at their next great fes... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And when the people saw him, they praised their god for they said, “Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country who has killed many of us.” ' The order in which the verse comes is not strictly chronological. They would see him first when he was led bound throug... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And so it was that when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.” And they called for Samson out of the prison house, and he made sport before them, and they set him between the pillars.' Drunk with wine and success they brought Samson out, dirty and in rags... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Allow me to feel the pillars on which the house stands so that I may lean on them.” ' He may have looked an abject picture, a figure of ridicule, but his mind was busily working on the question as to how he could take advantage of the situatio... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there, and there were on the roof three thousand men and women who watched while Samson made sport.' This was a special occasion and it is stressed that the temple was dangerously packed. The crowded roof, with the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Samson called to Yahweh, and said, “Oh Lord Yahweh, remember me, I pray you, and strengthen me, I pray you, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” This is the only record we have of Samson praying, although like all true Israelites he would r... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars, on which the house rested, and leaned on them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.' The pillars were probably wooden pillars on stone bases. Thus they could be slid off their bases and would then cease to satisfactorily fulfil t... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 16:30 a ‘And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were in it.' It was an act of war and revenge. He gave his life to destroy the Philistine power. For by dragging the pillars off t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Then his brothers, 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 burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.' Samson's body was collected by his near kin and was given a respectable burial, a... [ Continue Reading ]