Judges 16:1 ¶ Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
Our hero goes from bad to worse. He now chooses to consort with a
prostitute in Gaza. This prompts an ambush by the men of Gaza. But Samson
displays a show of force that should amaze and cause fear in them all. Notice
he performed this incredible feat probably still under the power of God.
Judges 16:4 ¶ And it came
to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was
Delilah. 5 And the lords of the
Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein
his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we
may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred
pieces of silver. 6 And Delilah said to
Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith
thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. 7
And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that
were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up
to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait,
abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon
thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it
toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. 10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou
hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou
mightest be bound. 11 And he said unto
her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I
be weak, and be as another man. 12 Delilah
therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the
chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. 13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou
hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And
he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and
said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his
sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I
love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three
times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him
daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and
said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a
Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will
go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
Here comes the famous Delilah, as popular as Jezebel for being a
bad example of womanhood. John Gill and Matthew Henry are uncertain as to
whether or not Delilah, whose name means according to Strong’s feeble, is
a Philistine or an Israelite. I think by the context she is a Philistine. It
seems pretty obvious to me. Her name is associated with the havoc she wreaks on
Samson by making this carnal judge weak.
The Philistine authorities bribe Delilah but Samson messes with
her head taunting his enemies to try to subdue him in doing so. His arrogance
will be his undoing. Here we can see a type of Satan’s own folly as he who
knows the Bible and prophecy better than you or I continues in his pride toward
his own destruction. The text says clearly that Samson loved Delilah and when
you add his lust to his pride you have a dangerous mixture. Like many prideful
men he gives the one who would betray him the knowledge they need to do the
deed.
Certainly, God has the power to provide Samson with the strength
he needed even in the circumstance to come but this is an opportunity for the
greatest of his efforts against the Philistines to come to play.
Judges 16:18 ¶ 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 hath shewed me all
his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought
money in their hand. 19 And she made him
sleep upon 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 afflict him, and his strength
went from him. 20 And she said, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I
will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that
the LORD was departed from him. 21 But
the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza,
and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
This sad consequence of Samson’s spiritual blindness, his physical
blindness, results in his humiliation and capture. This is a mighty fall of a
mighty man.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth
before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Judges 16:22 ¶ Howbeit the
hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered
them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to
rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they
praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our
enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were
merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they
called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set
him between the pillars. 26 And Samson
said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the
pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 27 Now the house was full of men and women; and
all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about
three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O
Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this
once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two
middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the
one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let me die with the
Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon
the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew
at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. 31 Then his brethren 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 buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged
Israel twenty years.
Samson is held prisoner for enough time for his hair to grow back.
No doubt he has suffered at the cruel hands of the Philistines. They want to
make a show of him at the great feast of their god, Dagon. Dagon was part man,
part fish, a god of fertility. Dagon will play a part upcoming in 1Samuel,
chapter 5, in the Philistines’ humiliation.
This is a very large temple apparently with an open courtyard so
that their prisoner could be seen from the roof. He was forced to make them
sport, whatever the meaning of that phrase is. Whether it be just humiliation
or something more vile understanding the behavior of the ancient world we don’t
know.
In Genesis,
chapter 26, Abimelech looks out a window and sees Isaac sporting with his wife. This, we assume, is some kind of sexual
play that would not be expected between a brother and a sister. Sporting can mean play or a jest or even
mocking but common sense tells us that this play would have to be in such a
manner as to reveal Isaac and Rebekah’s relationship. See here how sport and sporting are used elsewhere.
It can be to take delight
in;
2Peter
2:13 And shall receive the reward of
unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots
they are and blemishes, sporting
themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
Proverbs
10:23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath
wisdom.
Or clearly just to mock
and make fun of;
Proverbs
26:19 So is the man that deceiveth his
neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?
Isaiah
57:4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw
out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
In some of the more disgusting cultures within cultures in our
present world sexual humiliation is a main reason for male rape. I wouldn’t
dismiss this idea too readily knowing what we have seen about the ancient
world’s religion with male and female temple prostitutes and the sexual content
of ancient religion.
Samson’s final act of self-sacrifice killed more Philistines than
he had killed in his entire life to this point and assured him a place in
popular culture.
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