mh_parser/vol_split/7 - Judges/Chapter 15.xml

<div2 id="Jud.xvi" n="xvi" next="Jud.xvii" prev="Jud.xv" progress="18.86%" title="Chapter XV">
<h2 id="Jud.xvi-p0.1">J U D G E S</h2>
<h3 id="Jud.xvi-p0.2">CHAP. XV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jud.xvi-p1">Samson, when he courted an alliance with the
Philistines, did but seek an occasion against them, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.14.4" parsed="|Judg|14|4|0|0" passage="Jdg 14:4"><i>ch.</i> xiv. 4</scripRef>. Now here we have a
further account of the occasions he took to weaken them, and to
avenge, not his own, but Israel's quarrels, upon them. Everything
here is surprising; if any thing be thought incredible, because
impossible, it must be remembered that with God nothing is
impossible, and it was by the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him
that he was both directed to and strengthened for those unusual
ways of making war. I. From the perfidiousness of his wife and her
father, he took occasion to burn their corn, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.1-Judg.15.5" parsed="|Judg|15|1|15|5" passage="Jdg 15:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>. II. From the Philistines'
barbarous cruelty to his wife and her father, he took occasion to
smite them with a great slaughter, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.6-Judg.15.8" parsed="|Judg|15|6|15|8" passage="Jdg 15:6-8">ver. 6-8</scripRef>. III. From the treachery of his
countrymen, who delivered him bound to the Philistines, he took
occasion to kill 1000 of them with the jaw-bone of an ass,
<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.9-Judg.15.17" parsed="|Judg|15|9|15|17" passage="Jdg 15:9-17">ver. 9-17</scripRef>. IV. From the
distress he was then in for want of water, God took occasion to
show him favour in a seasonable supply, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.18-Judg.15.20" parsed="|Judg|15|18|15|20" passage="Jdg 15:18-20">ver. 18-20</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jud.xvi-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15" parsed="|Judg|15|0|0|0" passage="Jud 15" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jud.xvi-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.1-Judg.15.8" parsed="|Judg|15|1|15|8" passage="Jud 15:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.15.1-Judg.15.8">
<h4 id="Jud.xvi-p1.8">Samson's Firebrands. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xvi-p1.9">b. c.</span> 1141.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.xvi-p2">1 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.   2 And her father said,
I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I
gave her to thy companion: <i>is</i> not her younger sister fairer
than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.   3 And
Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the
Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.   4 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.   5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let
<i>them</i> go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt
up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards
<i>and</i> olives.   6 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.   7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye
have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will
cease.   8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great
slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock
Etam.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p3">Here is, I. Samson's return to his wife,
whom he had left in displeasure; not hearing perhaps that she was
given to another, when time had a little cooled his resentments, he
came back to her, <i>visited her with a kid,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.1" parsed="|Judg|15|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. The value of the present was
inconsiderable, but it was intended as a token of reconciliation,
and perhaps was then so used, when those that had been at variance
were brought together again; he sent this, that he might sup with
her in her apartments, and she with him, on his provision, and so
they might be friends again. It was generously done of Samson,
though he was the party offended and the superior relation, to whom
therefore she was bound in duty to sue for peace and to make the
first motion of reconciliation. When differences happen between
near relations, let those be ever reckoned the wisest and the best
that are most forward to forgive and forget injuries and most
willing to stoop and yield for peace' sake.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p4">II. The repulse he met with. Her father
forbade him to come near her; for truly he had married her to
another, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.2" parsed="|Judg|15|2|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. He
endeavours, 1. To justify himself in this wrong: <i>I verily
thought that thou hadst utterly hated her.</i> A very ill opinion
he had of Samson, measuring that Nazarite by the common temper of
the Philistines; could he think worse of him than to suspect that,
because he was justly angry with his wife, he utterly hated her,
and, because he had seen cause to return to his father's house for
a while, therefore he had abandoned her for ever? Yet this is all
he had to say in excuse of this injury. Thus he made the worst of
jealousies to patronize the worst of robberies. But it will never
bear us out in doing ill to say, "We thought others designed ill."
2. He endeavours to pacify Samson by offering him his younger
daughter, whom, because the handsomer, he thought Samson might
accept, in full recompence for the wrong. See what confusions those
did admit and bring their families to that were not governed by the
fear and law of God, marrying a daughter this week to one and next
week to another, giving a man one daughter first and then another.
Samson scorned his proposal; he knew better things than <i>to take
a wife to her sister,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.18.18" parsed="|Lev|18|18|0|0" passage="Le 18:18">Lev. xviii.
18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p5">III. The revenge Samson took upon the
Philistines for this abuse. Had he designed herein only to plead
his own cause he would have challenged his rival, and would have
chastised him and his father-in-law only. But he looks upon himself
as a public person, and the affront as done to the whole nation of
Israel, for probably they put this slight upon him because he was
of that nation, and pleased themselves with it, that they had put
such an abuse upon an Israelite; and therefore he resolves to do
the Philistines a displeasure, and does not doubt but this
treatment which he had met with among them would justify him in it
(<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.3" parsed="|Judg|15|3|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Now shall
I be more blameless than the Philistines.</i> He had done what
became him in offering to be reconciled to his wife, but, she
having rendered it impracticable, now they could not blame him if
he showed his just resentment. Note, When differences arise we
ought to do our duty in order to the ending of them, and then,
whatever the ill consequences of them may be, we shall be
blameless. Now the way Samson took to be revenged on them was by
setting their corn-fields on fire, which would be a great weakening
and impoverishing to the country, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.4-Judg.15.5" parsed="|Judg|15|4|15|5" passage="Jdg 15:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>. 1. The method he took to do
it was very strange. He sent 150 couple of foxes, tied tail to
tail, into the corn-fields; every couple had a stick of fire
between their tails, with which, being terrified, they ran into the
corn for shelter, and so set fire to it; thus the fire would break
out in many places at the same time, and therefore could not be
conquered, especially if this was done, as it is probable it was,
in the night. He might have employed men to do it, but perhaps he
could not find Israelites enough that had courage to do it, and he
himself could do it but in one place at a time, which would not
effect his purpose. We never find Samson, in any of his exploits,
making use of any person whatsoever, either servant or soldier,
therefore, in this project, he chose to make use of foxes as his
incendiaries. They had injured Samson by their subtlety and malice,
and now Samson returns the injury by subtle foxes and mischievous
fire-brands. By the meanness and weakness of the animals he
employed, he designed to put contempt upon the enemies he fought
against. This stratagem is often alluded to to show how the
church's adversaries, that are of different interests and designs
among themselves, that look and draw contrary ways in other things,
yet have often united in a fire-brand, some cursed project or
other, to waste the church of God, and particularly to kindle the
fire of division in it. 2. The mischief he hereby did to the
Philistines was very great. It was in the time of wheat harvest
(<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.1" parsed="|Judg|15|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), so that the
straw being dry it soon burnt the shocks of corn that were cut, and
<i>the standing corn, and the vineyards and olives.</i> This was a
waste of the good creatures, but where other acts of hostility are
lawful destroying the forage is justly reckoned to be so: if he
might take away their lives, he might take away their livelihood.
And God was righteous in it: the <i>corn, and the wine, and the
oil,</i> which they had prepared for Dagon, to be a meat-offering
to him, were thus, in the season thereof, made a burnt-offering to
God's justice.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p6">IV. The Philistines' outrage against
Samson's treacherous wife and her father. Understanding that they
had provoked Samson to do this mischief to the country, the rabble
set upon them and burnt them with fire, perhaps in their own house,
<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.6" parsed="|Judg|15|6|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Samson himself
they durst not attack, and therefore, with more justice than
perhaps they themselves designed in it, they wreak their vengeance
upon those who, they could not but own, had given him cause to be
angry. Instead of taking vengeance upon Samson, they took vengeance
for him, when he, out of respect to the relation he had stood in to
them, was not willing to do it for himself. See his hand in it
<i>to whom vengeance belongs.</i> Those that deal treacherously
shall be spoiled and dealt treacherously with; and <i>the Lord is
known by these judgments which he executes,</i> especially when, as
here, he makes use of his people's enemies as instruments for
revenging one upon another his people's quarrels. When a barbarous
Philistine sets fire to a treacherous one, the <i>righteous</i> may
<i>rejoice to see the vengeance,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.58.10-Ps.58.11" parsed="|Ps|58|10|58|11" passage="Ps 58:10,11">Ps. lviii. 10, 11</scripRef>. Thus shall <i>the wrath
of man praise God,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.10" parsed="|Ps|76|10|0|0" passage="Ps 76:10">Ps. lxxvi.
10</scripRef>. The Philistines had threatened Samson's wife, that,
if she would not get the riddle out of him, they would <i>burn her
and her father's house with fire,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.14.15" parsed="|Judg|14|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 14:15"><i>ch.</i> xiv. 15</scripRef>. She, to save herself and
oblige her countrymen, betrayed her husband; and what came of it?
The very thing that she feared, and sought by sin to avoid, came
upon her; she and her father's house were burnt with fire, and her
countrymen, whom she sought to oblige by the wrong she did to her
husband, brought this evil upon her. The mischief we seek to escape
by any unlawful practices we often pull upon our own heads. <i>He
that will</i> thus <i>save his life shall lose it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p7">V. The occasion Samson took hence to do
them a yet greater mischief, which touched their bone and their
flesh, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.7-Judg.15.8" parsed="|Judg|15|7|15|8" passage="Jdg 15:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>.
"<i>Though you have done this</i> to them, and thereby shown what
you would do to me if you could, yet that shall not deter me from
being further vexatious to you." Or, "Though you think, by doing
this, you have made me satisfaction for the affront I received
among you, yet I have Israel's cause to plead as a public person,
and for the wrongs done to them <i>I will be avenged on you,</i>
and, if you will then forbear your insults, I will cease, aiming at
no more than the deliverance of Israel." So he <i>smote them hip
and thigh with a great stroke,</i> so the word is. We suppose the
wounds he gave them to have been mortal, as wounds in the hip or
thigh often prove, and therefore translate it, <i>with a great
slaughter.</i> Some think he only lamed them, disabled them for
service, as horses were houghed or ham-strung. It seems to be a
phrase used to express a desperate attack; he killed them
pell-mell, or routed them horse and foot. He smote them with his
hip upon thigh, that is, with the strength he had, not in his arms
and hands, but in his hips and thighs, for he kicked and spurned at
them, and so mortified them, <i>trod them in his anger,</i> and
<i>trampled them in his fury,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.3" parsed="|Isa|63|3|0|0" passage="Isa 63:3">Isa.
lxiii. 3</scripRef>. And, when he had done, he retired to a natural
fortress in the top of the rock Etam, where he waited to see
whether the Philistines would be tamed by the correction he had
given them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jud.xvi-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.9-Judg.15.17" parsed="|Judg|15|9|15|17" passage="Jud 15:9-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.15.9-Judg.15.17">
<h4 id="Jud.xvi-p7.4">Samson Bound by the Men of
Judah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xvi-p7.5">b. c.</span> 1140.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.xvi-p8">9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in
Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.   10 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.
  11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the
rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the
Philistines <i>are</i> rulers over us? what <i>is</i> this
<i>that</i> thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they
did unto me, so have I done unto them.   12 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.   13 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.
  14 <i>And</i> when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines
shouted against him: and the Spirit of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xvi-p8.1">Lord</span> came mightily upon him, and the cords that
<i>were</i> upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire,
and his bands loosed from off his hands.   15 And he found a
new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and
slew a thousand men therewith.   16 And Samson said, With the
jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I
slain a thousand men.   17 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 Ramath-lehi.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p9">Here is, I. Samson violently pursued by the
Philistine. They went up in a body, a more formidable force than
they had together when Samson smote them hip and thigh; and they
pitched in Judah, and spread themselves up and down the country, to
find out Samson, who they heard had come this way, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.9" parsed="|Judg|15|9|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. When the men of Judah,
who had tamely submitted to their yoke, pleaded that they had paid
their tribute, and that none of their tribe had given them any
offence, they freely own they designed nothing in this invasion but
to seize Samson; they would fight <i>neither against small nor
great,</i> but only that judge of Israel (<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.10" parsed="|Judg|15|10|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), to <i>do to him as he has
done to us,</i> that is, to smite his hip and thigh, as he did
ours—<i>an eye for an eye.</i> Here was an army sent against one
man, for indeed he was himself an army. Thus a whole band of men
was sent to seize our Lord Jesus, that blessed Samson, though a
tenth part would have served now that his hour had come, and ten
times as many would have done nothing if he had not yielded.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p10">II. Samson basely betrayed and delivered up
by the men of Judah, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.11" parsed="|Judg|15|11|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. Of Judah were they? Degenerate branches of that
valiant tribe! Utterly unworthy to carry in their standard <i>the
lion of the tribe of Judah.</i> Perhaps they were disaffected to
Samson because he was not of their tribe. Out of a foolish fondness
for their forfeited precedency, they would rather be oppressed by
Philistines than rescued by a Danite. Often has the church's
deliverance been obstructed by such jealousies and pretended points
of honour. Rather it was because they stood in awe of the
Philistines, and were willing, at any rate, to get them out of
their country. If their spirits had not been perfectly cowed and
broken by their sins and troubles, and they had not been given up
to a spirit of slumber, they would have taken this fair opportunity
to shake off the Philistine's yoke. If they had had the least spark
of ingenuousness and courage remaining in them, having so brave a
man as Samson was to head them, they would now have made one bold
struggle for the recovery of their liberty; but no marvel if those
that had debased themselves to hell in the worship of their
dung-hill gods (<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.57.9" parsed="|Isa|57|9|0|0" passage="Isa 57:9">Isa. lvii.
9</scripRef>) thus debased themselves to the dust, in submission to
their insulting oppressors. Sin dispirits men, nay, it infatuates
them, and hides from their eyes the things that belong to their
peace. Probably Samson went into the border of that country to
offer his service, <i>supposing his brethren would have understood
how that God by his hand would deliver them,</i> as Moses did,
<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.7.25" parsed="|Acts|7|25|0|0" passage="Ac 7:25">Acts vii. 25</scripRef>. But they
thrust him from them, and very disingenuously, 1. Blamed him for
what he had done against the Philistines, as if he had done them a
great injury. Such ungrateful returns have those often received
that have done the best service imaginable to their country. Thus
our Lord Jesus did many good works, and for these they were ready
to stone him. 2. They begged of him that he would suffer them to
bind him, and deliver him up to the Philistines. Cowardly
unthankful wretches! Fond of their fetters and in love with
servitude! Thus the Jews delivered up our Saviour, under pretence
of a fear lest the Romans should come and take away their place and
nation. With what a sordid servile spirit do they argue, <i>Knowest
thou not that the Philistines rule over us?</i> And whose fault was
that? They knew they had no right to rule over them, nor would they
have been sold into their hands if they had not first <i>sold
themselves to work wickedness.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p11">III. Samson tamely yielding to be bound by
his countrymen, and delivered into the hands of his enraged
enemies, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.12-Judg.15.13" parsed="|Judg|15|12|15|13" passage="Jdg 15:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12,
13</scripRef>. Now easily could he have beaten them off, and kept
the top of his rock against these 3000 men, and none of them all
could, or durst, have laid hands on him; but he patiently
submitted, 1. That he might give an example of great meekness,
mixed with great strength and courage; as one that had rule over
his own spirit, he knew how to yield as well as how to conquer. 2.
That, by being delivered up to the Philistine, he might have an
opportunity of making a slaughter among them. 3. That he might be a
type of Christ, who, when he had shown what he could do, in
striking those down that came to seize him, yielded to be bound and
led as a <i>lamb to the slaughter.</i> Samson justified himself in
what he had done against the Philistines: "<i>As they did to me, so
I did to them;</i> it was a piece of necessary justice, and they
ought not to retaliate it upon me, for they began." He covenants
with the men of Judah that, if he put himself into their hands,
they should not fall upon him themselves, because then he should be
tempted to fall upon them, which he was very loth to do. This they
promised him (<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.13" parsed="|Judg|15|13|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), and then he surrendered. The men of Judah, being
his betrayers, were in effect his murderers; they would not kill
him themselves, but they did that which was worse, they delivered
him into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines, who they knew
would do worse than kill him, would abuse and torment him to death.
Perhaps they thought, as some think Judas did when he betrayed
Christ, that he would by his great strength deliver himself out of
their hands; but no thanks to them if he had delivered himself,
and, if they thought he would do so, they might of themselves have
thought this again, that he could and would deliver them too if
they would adhere to him and make him their head. Justly is their
misery prolonged who, to oblige their worst enemies, thus abuse
their best friend. Never were men so infatuated except those who
thus treated our blessed Saviour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p12">IV. Samson making his part good against the
Philistines, even when he was delivered into their hands, fast
pinioned with two new cords. The Philistines, when they had him
among them, <i>shouted against him</i> (<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.14" parsed="|Judg|15|14|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), so triumphing in their
success, and insulting over him. If God had not tied their hands
faster than the men of Judah had tied his, they would have shot at
him (as their archers did at Saul) to dispatch him immediately,
rather than have shouted at him, and given him time to help
himself. But their security and joy were a presage of their ruin.
When they shouted against him as a man run down, confident that all
was their own, then the <i>Spirit of the Lord came upon him,</i>
came mightily upon him, inspired him with more than ordinary
strength and resolution. Thus fired, 1. He presently got clear of
his bonds. The two new cords, upon the first struggle he gave,
broke, and were <i>melted</i> (as the original word is) from off
his hands, no doubt to the great amazement and terror of those that
shouted against him, whose shouts were hereby turned into shrieks.
Observe, When the <i>Spirit of the Lord came upon him, his cords
were loosed. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty,</i>
and those are free indeed who are thus freed. This typified the
resurrection of Christ by the power of the Spirit of holiness. In
it he loosed the bands of death, and its cords, the grave-clothes,
fell from his hands without being loosed, as Lazarus's were,
because it was impossible that the mighty Saviour should be holden
of them; and thus he triumphed over the powers of darkness that
shouted against him, as if they had him sure. 2. He made a great
destruction among the Philistines, who all gathered about him to
make sport with him, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.15" parsed="|Judg|15|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. See how poorly he was armed: he had no better weapon
than the jaw-bone of an ass, and yet what execution he did with it!
he never laid it out of his hand till he had with it laid 1000
Philistines dead upon the spot; and thus that promise was more than
accomplished. <i>One of you shall chase a thousand,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.23.10" parsed="|Josh|23|10|0|0" passage="Jos 23:10">Josh. xxiii. 10</scripRef>. A jaw-bone was an
inconvenient thing to grasp, and, one would think, might easily be
wrested out of his hand, and a few such blows as he gave with it
might have crushed and broken it, and yet it held good to the last.
Had it been the jaw-bone of a lion, especially that which he
himself had slain, it might have helped to heighten his fancy and
to make him think himself the more formidable; but to take the bone
of that despicable animal was to do wonders by <i>the foolish
things of the world,</i> that the <i>excellency of the power might
be of God and not of man.</i> One of David's worthies slew 300
Philistines at once, but it was <i>with a spear,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.11.11" parsed="|1Chr|11|11|0|0" passage="1Ch 11:11">1 Chron. xi. 11</scripRef>. Another slew of
them till his hand was weary and stuck to his sword, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.23.10" parsed="|2Sam|23|10|0|0" passage="2Sa 23:10">2 Sam. xxiii. 10</scripRef>. But they all came
short of Samson. What could be thought too hard, too much, for him
to do, on whom the Spirit of the Lord came mightily! <i>Through God
we shall do valiantly.</i> It was strange the men of Judah did not
now come in to his aid: cowards can strike a falling enemy. But he
was to be a type of him that <i>trod the wine-press alone.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p13">V. Samson celebrating his own victory,
since the men of Judah would not do even that for him. He composed
a short song, which he sang to himself, for the daughters of Israel
did not meet him, as afterwards they did Saul, to sing, with more
reason, <i>Samson hath slain his thousands.</i> The burden of this
song was, <i>With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, have I
slain a thousand men,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.16" parsed="|Judg|15|16|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. The same word in Hebrew (<i>chamor</i>) signifies
both an <i>ass</i> and a <i>heap,</i> so that this is an elegant
paronomasia, and represents the Philistines falling as tamely as
asses. He also gave a name to the place, to perpetuate the
Philistines' disgrace, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.17" parsed="|Judg|15|17|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>. <i>Ramath-lehi,</i> the <i>lifting up of the
jaw-bone.</i> Yet he did not vain-gloriously carry the bone about
with him for a show, but threw it away when he had done with it. So
little were relics valued then.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jud.xvi-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.18-Judg.15.20" parsed="|Judg|15|18|15|20" passage="Jud 15:18-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.15.18-Judg.15.20">
<h4 id="Jud.xvi-p13.4">Samson's Thirst Relieved. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xvi-p13.5">b. c.</span> 1140.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.xvi-p14">18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xvi-p14.1">Lord</span>, 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?   19
But God clave a hollow place that <i>was</i> 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 En-hakkore,
which <i>is</i> in Lehi unto this day.   20 And he judged
Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p15">Here is, I. The distress which Samson was
in after this great performance (<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.18" parsed="|Judg|15|18|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>He was sore athirst.</i>
It was a natural effect of the great heat he had been in, and the
great pains he had taken; his zeal consumed him, ate him up, and
made him forget himself, till, when he had time to pause a little,
he found himself reduced to the last extremity for want of water
and ready to faint. Perhaps there was a special hand of God in it,
as there was in the whole transaction; and God would hereby keep
him from being proud of his great strength and great achievements,
and let him know that he was but a man, and liable to the
calamities that are common to men. And Josephus says, It was
designed to chastise him for not making mention of God and his hand
in his memorial of the victory he had obtained, but taking all the
praise to himself: <i>I have slain a thousand men;</i> now that he
is ready to die for thirst he is under a sensible conviction that
his own arm could not have saved him, without God's right hand and
arm. Samson had drunk largely of the blood of the Philistines, but
blood will never quench any man's thirst. Providence so ordered it
that there was no water near him, and he was so fatigued that he
could not go far to seek it; the men of Judah, one would think,
should have met him, now that he had come off a conqueror, <i>with
bread and wine,</i> as Melchizedek did Abram, to atone for the
injury they had done him; but so little notice did they take of
their deliverer that he was ready to perish for want of a draught
of water. Thus are the greatest slights often put upon those that
do the greatest services. Christ on the cross, said, <i>I
thirst.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p16">II. His prayer to God in this distress.
Those that forget to attend God with their praises may perhaps be
compelled to attend him with their prayers. Afflictions are often
sent to bring unthankful people to God. Two things he pleads with
God in this prayer, 1. His having experienced the power and
goodness of God in his late success: <i>Thou hast given this great
deliverance into the hand of thy servant.</i> He owns himself God's
servant in what he had been doing: "Lord, wilt thou not own a poor
servant of thine, that has spent himself in thy service? <i>I am
thine, save me.</i>" He calls his victory a <i>deliverance,</i> a
<i>great</i> deliverance; for, if God had not helped him, he had
not only not conquered the Philistines, but had been swallowed up
by them. He owns it to come from God, and now corrects his former
error in assuming it too much to himself; and this he pleads in his
present strait. Note, Past experiences of God's power and goodness
are excellent pleas in prayer for further mercy. "Lord, thou hast
delivered often, wilt thou not deliver still? <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.1.10" parsed="|2Cor|1|10|0|0" passage="2Co 1:10">2 Cor. i. 10</scripRef>. Thou hast begun, wilt thou not
finish? Thou hast done the greater, wilt thou not do the less?"
<scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.13" parsed="|Ps|56|13|0|0" passage="Ps 56:13">Ps. lvi. 13</scripRef>. 2. His being
now exposed to his enemies: "<i>Lest I fall into the hands of the
uncircumcised,</i> and then they will triumph, will <i>tell it in
Gath, and in the streets of Ashkelon;</i> and will it not redound
to God's dishonour of his champion become so easy a prey to the
uncircumcised?" The best pleas are those taken from God's
glory.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p17">III. The seasonable relief God sent him.
God heard his prayer, and sent him water, either out of the bone or
out of the earth through the bone, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.19" parsed="|Judg|15|19|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. That bone which he had made an
instrument of God's service God, to recompense him, made an
instrument of his supply. But I rather incline to our marginal
reading: <i>God clave a hollow place that was in Lehi:</i> the
place of this action was, from the jaw-bone, called <i>Lehi;</i>
even before the action we find it so called, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.9 Bible:Judg.15.14" parsed="|Judg|15|9|0|0;|Judg|15|14|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:9,14"><i>v.</i> 9, 14</scripRef>. And there, in that field,
or hill, or plain, or whatever it was, that was so called, God
caused a fountain suddenly and seasonably to open just by him, and
water to spring up out of it in abundance, which continued a well
ever after. Of this fair water he drank, and his spirits revived.
We should be more thankful for the mercy of water did we consider
how ill we can spare it. And this instance of Samson's relief
should encourage us to trust in God, and seek to him, for, when he
pleases, he can <i>open rivers in high places.</i> See <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.41.17-Isa.41.18" parsed="|Isa|41|17|41|18" passage="Isa 41:17,18">Isa. xli. 17, 18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p18">IV. The memorial of this, in the name
Samson gave to this upstart fountain, <i>En-hakkore, the well of
him that cried,</i> thereby keeping in remembrance both his own
distress, which occasioned him to cry, and God's favour to him, in
answer to his cry. Many a spring of comfort God opens to his
people, which may fitly be called by this name; it is <i>the well
of him that cried.</i> Samson had given a name to the place which
denoted him great and triumphant—<i>Ramath-lehi,</i> the
<i>lifting up of the jaw-bone;</i> but here he gives it another
name, which denotes him needy and dependent.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xvi-p19">V. The continuance of Samson's government
after these achievements, <scripRef id="Jud.xvi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.15.20" parsed="|Judg|15|20|0|0" passage="Jdg 15:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. At length Israel submitted to him whom they had
betrayed. Now it was past dispute that God was with him, so that
henceforward they all owned him and were directed by him as their
judge. <i>The stone which the builders refused became the
head-stone.</i> It intimates the low condition of Israel that the
government was dated by <i>the days of the Philistines;</i> yet it
was a mercy to Israel that, though they were oppressed by a foreign
enemy, yet they had a judge that preserved order and kept them from
ruining one another. Twenty years his government continued,
according to the usages of the judges' administration; but of the
particulars we have no account, save of the beginning of his
government in this chapter and the end of it in the next.</p>
</div></div2>