But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. Ver. 1. _But it came to pass within a while after._] When Samson had now digested the... [ Continue Reading ]
And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: [is] not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. Ver. 2. _I verily thought._] But he should have made sure of that; which because he did not, it cost hi... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. Ver. 3. _Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines._] Who all were in fault, because they either approved, or at least inhibited not this injury done to Samson; wherefore he... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. Ver. 4. _And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes._] Whereof that country was full, Song of Solomon 2:15 Psa 63:10 and he might herein use the help... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when he had set the brands on fire, he let [them] go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards [and] olives._ Ver. 5. _With the vineyards and olives._] How this could be is hard to conceive: but in these things we mu... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. Ver. 6. _Burnt her and her father with fire._] Thus the fear o... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. Ver. 7. _Though ye have done this, yet, &c._] Here he protesteth that he was no way satisfied with, what they had done to his wife and her father; because not in a way of justice, but out... [ Continue Reading ]
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. Ver. 8. _And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter,_] _i.e., _ Wherever he hit them, he gave them their passport, as we say: he beat them back and belly, as the French prover... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi._ Ver. 9. _Spread themselves in Lehi._] Which showeth that they were a great army that came to fetch their bane. "Associate yourselves, ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces." Isa 8:9... [ Continue Reading ]
And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. Ver. 10. _Why are ye come up against us?_] They choose rather to treat than to fight, though they had such a champion as Samson. _Hosti discedenti pons aur... [ Continue Reading ]
Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines [are] rulers over us? what [is] this [that] thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. Ver. 11. _As they did unto me._] He... [ Continue Reading ]
And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. Ver. 12. _We are come down to bind thee._] In these Israelites we have an example of ingratitude: as... [ Continue Reading ]
And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. Ver. 13. _But surely we will not kill thee._] No, but you will do as bad: for _qui non cum po... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 15:14 [And] when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that [were] upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. Ver. 14. _The Philistines shouted against him.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith._ Ver. 15. _And he found a new jaw-bone of an ass._] This holy Hercules had no better a club to bestir him with; and it was sufficient. So was "the foolishness of preaching," to subdue the... [ Continue Reading ]
And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. Ver. 16. _With the jaw bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps._] Heb., A heap, two heaps. Here is an elegancy _(antanaclasis)_ in the original; for the same word _Chamor_ signifieth both an... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. Ver. 17. _And called that place Ramathlehi._] We must likewise set up marks and monuments of God's signal mercies, to preserve the memory of them, which else wi... [ Continue Reading ]
And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? Ver. 18. _And he was sore athirst._] To keep him humble after so notable an exploit, and to ma... [ Continue Reading ]
But God clave an hollow place that [was] in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which [is] in Lehi unto this day. Ver. 19. _But God clave a hollow place._] In figure like a mortar, as P... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years._ Ver. 20. _And he judged Israel._] Haply after this victory he was publicly accepted and acknowledged as judge of Israel by this people, who before had dealt so unworthily with him: “ _Sic cum fortuna statque caditque fides._ ”... [ Continue Reading ]