5 And the lords H5633 of the Philistines H6430 came up H5927 unto her, and said H559 unto her, Entice H6601 him, and see H7200 wherein his great H1419 strength H3581 lieth, and by what means we may prevail H3201 against him, that we may bind H631 him to afflict H6031 him: and we will give H5414 thee every one H376 of us eleven hundred H505 H3967 pieces of silver. H3701
For I will promote H3513 thee unto very H3966 great H3513 honour, H3513 and I will do H6213 whatsoever thou sayest H559 unto me: come H3212 therefore, I pray thee, curse H6895 me this people. H5971 And Balaam H1109 answered H6030 and said H559 unto the servants H5650 of Balak, H1111 If Balak H1111 would give H5414 me his house H1004 full H4393 of silver H3701 and gold, H2091 I cannot H3201 go beyond H5674 the word H6310 of the LORD H3068 my God, H430 to do H6213 less H6996 or more. H1419
To deliver H5337 thee from the strange H2114 woman, H802 even from the stranger H5237 which flattereth H2505 with her words; H561 Which forsaketh H5800 the guide H441 of her youth, H5271 and forgetteth H7911 the covenant H1285 of her God. H430 For her house H1004 inclineth H7743 unto death, H4194 and her paths H4570 unto the dead. H7496 None that go H935 unto her return again, H7725 neither take they hold H5381 of the paths H734 of life. H2416
For the lips H8193 of a strange woman H2114 drop H5197 as an honeycomb, H5317 and her mouth H2441 is smoother H2509 than oil: H8081 But her end H319 is bitter H4751 as wormwood, H3939 sharp H2299 as a twoedged H6310 sword. H2719 Her feet H7272 go down H3381 to death; H4194 her steps H6806 take hold H8551 on hell. H7585 Lest thou shouldest ponder H6424 the path H734 of life, H2416 her ways H4570 are moveable, H5128 that thou canst not know H3045 them. Hear H8085 me now therefore, O ye children, H1121 and depart H5493 not from the words H561 of my mouth. H6310 Remove H7368 thy way H1870 far H7368 from her, and come not nigh H7126 the door H6607 of her house: H1004 Lest thou give H5414 thine honour H1935 unto others, H312 and thy years H8141 unto the cruel: H394 Lest strangers H2114 be filled H7646 with thy wealth; H3581 and thy labours H6089 be in the house H1004 of a stranger; H5237 And thou mourn H5098 at the last, H319 when thy flesh H1320 and thy body H7607 are consumed, H3615
To keep H8104 thee from the evil H7451 woman, H802 from the flattery H2513 of the tongue H3956 of a strange woman. H5237 Lust H2530 not after her beauty H3308 in thine heart; H3824 neither let her take H3947 thee with her eyelids. H6079 For by means of H1157 a whorish H2181 woman H802 a man is brought to a piece H3603 of bread: H3899 and the adulteress H802 H376 will hunt H6679 for the precious H3368 life. H5315
With her much H7230 fair speech H3948 she caused him to yield, H5186 with the flattering H2506 of her lips H8193 she forced H5080 him. He goeth H1980 after H310 her straightway, H6597 as an ox H7794 goeth H935 to the slaughter, H2874 or as a fool H191 to the correction H4148 of the stocks; H5914 Till a dart H2671 strike H6398 through his liver; H3516 as a bird H6833 hasteth H4116 to the snare, H6341 and knoweth H3045 not that it is for his life. H5315 Hearken H8085 unto me now therefore, O ye children, H1121 and attend H7181 to the words H561 of my mouth. H6310 Let not thine heart H3820 decline H7847 to her ways, H1870 go not astray H8582 in her paths. H5410 For she hath cast down H5307 many H7227 wounded: H2491 yea, many strong H6099 men have been slain H2026 by her. Her house H1004 is the way H1870 to hell, H7585 going down H3381 to the chambers H2315 of death. H4194
Know ye G1492 not G3756 that G3754 your G5216 bodies G4983 are G2076 the members G3196 of Christ? G5547 shall I G142 then G3767 take G142 the members G3196 of Christ, G5547 and make G4160 them the members G3196 of an harlot? G4204 God forbid. G3361 G1096 What? G2228 know ye G1492 not G3756 that G3754 he which is joined G2853 to an harlot G4204 is G2076 one G1520 body? G4983 for G1063 two, G1417 saith he, G5346 shall be G2071 one G1519 G3391 flesh. G4561 But G1161 he that is joined G2853 unto the Lord G2962 is G2076 one G1520 spirit. G4151 Flee G5343 fornication. G4202 Every G3956 sin G265 that G3739 G1437 a man G444 doeth G4160 is G2076 without G1622 the body; G4983 but G1161 he that committeth fornication G4203 sinneth G264 against G1519 his own G2398 body. G4983
But G1161 they that will G1014 be rich G4147 fall G1706 into G1519 temptation G3986 and G2532 a snare, G3803 and G2532 into many G4183 foolish G453 and G2532 hurtful G983 lusts, G1939 which G3748 drown G1036 men G444 in G1519 destruction G3639 and G2532 perdition. G684 For G1063 the love of money G5365 is G2076 the root G4491 of all G3956 evil: G2556 which G3739 while some G5100 coveted after, G3713 they have erred G635 from G575 the faith, G4102 and G2532 pierced G4044 themselves G1438 through G4044 with many G4183 sorrows. G3601
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Judges 16
Commentary on Judges 16 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 16
Jud 16:1-3. Samson Carries Away the Gates of Gaza.
1, 2. Gaza—now Guzzah, the capital of the largest of the five Philistine principal cities, about fifteen miles southwest of Ashkelon. The object of this visit to this city is not recorded, and unless he had gone in disguise, it was a perilous exposure of his life in one of the enemy's strongholds. It soon became known that he was there; and it was immediately resolved to secure him. But deeming themselves certain of their prey, the Gazites deferred the execution of their measure till the morning.
3. Samson … arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city—A ruinous pile of masonry is still pointed out as the site of the gate. It was probably a part of the town wall, and as this ruin is "toward Hebron," there is no improbability in the tradition.
carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron—That hill is El-Montar; but by Hebron in this passage is meant "the mountains of Hebron"; for otherwise Samson, had he run night and day from the time of his flight from Gaza, could only have come on the evening of the following day within sight of the city of Hebron. The city of Gaza was, in those days, probably not less than three-quarters of an hour distant from El-Montar. To have climbed to the top of this hill with the ponderous doors and their bolts on his shoulders, through a road of thick sand, was a feat which none but a Samson could have accomplished [Van De Velde].
Jud 16:4-14. Delilah Corrupted by the Philistines.
4. he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek—The location of this place is not known, nor can the character of Delilah be clearly ascertained. Her abode, her mercenary character, and her heartless blandishments afford too much reason to believe she was a profligate woman.
5. the lords of the Philistines—The five rulers deemed no means beneath their dignity to overcome this national enemy.
Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth—They probably imagined that he carried some amulet about his person, or was in the possession of some important secret by which he had acquired such herculean strength; and they bribed Delilah, doubtless by a large reward, to discover it for them. She undertook the service and made several attempts, plying all her arts of persuasion or blandishment in his soft and communicative moods, to extract his secret.
7. Samson said …, If they bind me with seven green withs—Vine tendrils, pliant twigs, or twists made of crude vegetable stalks are used in many Eastern countries for ropes at the present day.
8. she bound him with them—probably in a sportive manner, to try whether he was jesting or in earnest.
9. there were men lying in wait, abiding … in the chamber—The Hebrew, literally rendered, is, "in the inner," or "most secret part of the house."
10. And Delilah said—To avoid exciting suspicion, she must have allowed some time to elapse before making this renewed attempt.
12. new ropes—It is not said of what material they were formed; but from their being dried, it is probable they were of twigs, like the former. The Hebrew intimates that they were twisted, and of a thick, strong description.
13. If thou weavest the seven locks of my head—braids or tresses, into which, like many in the East, he chose to plait his hair. Working at the loom was a female employment; and Delilah's appears to have been close at hand. It was of a very simple construction; the woof was driven into the warp, not by a reed, but by a wooden spatula. The extremity of the web was fastened to a pin or stake fixed in the wall or ground; and while Delilah sat squatting at her loom, Samson lay stretched on the floor, with his head reclining on her lap—a position very common in the East.
14. went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web—that is, the whole weaving apparatus.
Jud 16:15-20. He Is Overcome.
16. she pressed him daily with her words—Though disappointed and mortified, this vile woman resolved to persevere; and conscious how completely he was enslaved by his passion for her, she assailed him with a succession of blandishing arts, till she at length discovered the coveted secret.
17. if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me—His herculean powers did not arise from his hair, but from his peculiar relation to God as a Nazarite. His unshorn locks were a sign of his Nazaritism, and a pledge on the part of God that his supernatural strength would be continued.
19. she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head—It is uncertain, however, whether the ancient Hebrews cut off the hair to the same extent as Orientals now. The word employed is sometimes the same as that for shearing sheep, and therefore the instrument might be only scissors.
20. he wist not that the Lord was departed from him—What a humiliating and painful spectacle! Deprived of the divine influences, degraded in his character, and yet, through the infatuation of a guilty passion, scarcely awake to the wretchedness of his fallen condition!
Jud 16:21, 22. The Philistines Took Him and Put Out His Eyes.
21. the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes—To this cruel privation prisoners of rank and consequence have commonly been subjected in the East. The punishment is inflicted in various ways, by scooping out the eyeballs, by piercing the eye, or destroying the sight by holding a red-hot iron before the eyes. His security was made doubly sure by his being bound with fetters of brass (copper), not of leather, like other captives.
he did grind in the prison-house—This grinding with hand-millstones being the employment of menials, he was set to it as the deepest degradation.
22. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again—It is probable that he had now reflected on his folly; and becoming a sincere penitent, renewed his Nazarite vow. "His hair grew together with his repentance, and his strength with his hairs" [Bishop Hall].
Jud 16:23-25. Their Feast to Dagon.
23. the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon—It was a common practice in heathen nations, on the return of their solemn religious festivals, to bring forth their war prisoners from their places of confinement or slavery; and, in heaping on them every species of indignity, they would offer their grateful tribute to the gods by whose aid they had triumphed over their enemies. Dagon was a sea idol, usually represented as having the head and upper parts human, while the rest of the body resembled a fish.
Jud 16:26-31. His Death.
27. there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport—This building seems to have been similar to the spacious and open amphitheaters well known among the Romans and still found in many countries of the East. They are built wholly of wood. The standing place for the spectators is a wooden floor resting upon two pillars and rising on an inclined plane, so as to enable all to have a view of the area in the center. In the middle there are two large beams, on which the whole weight of the structure lies, and these beams are supported by two pillars placed almost close to each other, so that when these are unsettled or displaced, the whole pile must tumble to the ground.
28. Samson called unto the Lord—His penitent and prayerful spirit seems clearly to indicate that this meditated act was not that of a vindictive suicide, and that he regarded himself as putting forth his strength in his capacity of a public magistrate. He must be considered, in fact, as dying for his country's cause. His death was not designed or sought, except as it might be the inevitable consequence of his great effort. His prayer must have been a silent ejaculation, and, from its being revealed to the historian, approved and accepted of God.
31. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him—This awful catastrophe seems to have so completely paralyzed the Philistines, that they neither attempted to prevent the removal of Samson's corpse, nor to molest the Israelites for a long time after. Thus the Israelitish hero rendered by his strength and courage signal services to his country, and was always regarded as the greatest of its champions. But his slavish subjection to the domination of his passions was unworthy of so great a man and lessens our respect for his character. Yet he is ranked among the ancient worthies who maintained a firm faith in God (Heb 11:32).