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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Samson's name (we have observed before) signifies a little sun
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(sol parvus); we have seen this sun rising very bright, and his morning
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ray strong and clear; and, nothing appearing to the contrary, we take
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it for granted that the middle of the day was proportionably
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illustrious, while he judged Israel twenty years; but the melancholy
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story of this chapter gives us such an account of his evening as did
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not commend his day. This little sun set under a cloud, and yet, just
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in the setting, darted forth one such strong and glorious beam as made
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him even then a type of Christ, conquering by death. Here is,
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I. Samson greatly endangered by his familiarity with one harlot, and
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hardly escaping,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. Samson quite ruined by his familiarity with another harlot,
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Delilah. Observe,
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1. How he was betrayed to her by his own lusts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:4">ver. 4</A>.
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2. How he was betrayed by her to his sworn enemies, the Philistines,
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who,
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(1.) By her means got it out of him at last where his great strength
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lay,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:5-17">ver. 5-17</A>.
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(2.) Then robbed him of his strength, by taking from his head the crown
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of his separation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:18-20">ver. 18-20</A>.
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(3.) Then seized him, blinded him, imprisoned him, abused him, and, at
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a solemn festival, made a show of him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:21-25">ver. 21-25</A>.
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But, lastly, he avenged himself of them by pulling down the theatre
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upon their heads, and so dying with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:26-31">ver. 26-31</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud16_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Samson's Escape from Gaza.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1120.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went
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in unto her.
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2 <I>And it was told</I> the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither.
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And they compassed <I>him</I> in, and laid wait for him all night in
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the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In
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the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
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3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took
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the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went
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away with them, bar and all, and put <I>them</I> upon his shoulders,
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and carried them up to the top of a hill that <I>is</I> before
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Hebron.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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1. Samson's sin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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His taking a Philistine to wife, in the beginning of his time, was in
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some degree excusable, but to join himself to a harlot that he
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accidentally saw among them was such a profanation of his honour as an
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Israelite, as a Nazarite, that we cannot but blush to read it. <I>Tell
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it not in Gath.</I> This vile impurity makes the graceful visage of
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this Nazarite <I>blacker than a coal,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:7,8">Lam. iv. 7, 8</A>.
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We find not that Samson had any business in Gaza; if he went thither in
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quest of a harlot it would make one willing to hope that, as bad as
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things were otherwise, there were no prostitutes among the daughters of
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Israel. Some think he went thither to observe what posture the
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Philistines were in, that he might get some advantages against them; if
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so, he forgot his business, neglected that, and so fell into this
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snare. His sin began in his eye, with which he should have made a
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covenant; he saw there one in the <I>attire of a harlot,</I> and the
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lust which conceived brought forth sin: he <I>went in unto her.</I>
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2. Samson's danger. Notice was sent to the magistrates of Gaza, perhaps
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by the treacherous harlot herself, that Samson was in the town,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Probably he came in a disguise, or in the dusk of the evening, and went
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into an inn or public-house, which happened to be kept by this harlot.
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The gates of the city were hereupon shut, guards set, all kept quiet,
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that Samson might suspect no danger. Now they thought they had him in a
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prison, and doubted not but to be the death of him the next morning. O
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that all those who indulge their sensual appetites in drunkenness,
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uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts, would see themselves thus
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surrounded, waylaid, and marked for ruin, by their spiritual enemies!
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The faster they sleep, and the more secure they are, the greater is
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their danger.
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3. Samson's escape,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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He rose at midnight, perhaps roused by a dream, in slumberings upon the
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bed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:15">Job xxxiii. 15</A>),
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by his guardian angel, or rather by the checks of his own conscience.
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He arose with a penitent abhorrence (we hope) of the sin he was now
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committing, and of himself because of it, and with a pious resolution
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not to return to it,--rose under an apprehension of the danger he was
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in, that he was as one that slept upon the top of a mast,--rose with
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such thoughts as these: "Is this a bed fit for a Nazarite to sleep in?
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Shall a temple of the living God be thus polluted? Can I be safe under
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this guilt?" It was bad that he lay down without such checks; but it
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would have been worse if he had lain still under them. He makes
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immediately towards the gate of the city, probably finds the guards
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asleep, else he would have made them sleep their last, stays not to
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break open the gates, but plucks up the posts, takes them, gates and
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bar and all, all very large and strong and a vast weight, yet he
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carries them on his back several miles, <I>up to the top of a hill,</I>
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in disdain of their attempt to secure him with gates and bars,
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designing thus to render himself more formidable to the Philistines and
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more acceptable to his people, thus to give a proof of the great
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strength God had given him and a type of Christ's victory over death
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and the grave. He not only rolled away the stone from the door of the
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sepulchre, and so came forth himself, but carried away the gates of the
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grave, bar and all, and so left it, ever after, an open prison to all
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that are his; it shall not, it cannot, always detain them. <I>O death!
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where is thy sting?</I> Where are thy gates? Thanks be to him that not
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only gained a victory for himself, but giveth us the victory!</P>
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<A NAME="Jud16_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud16_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Delilah's Treachery.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1120.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the
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valley of Sorek, whose name <I>was</I> Delilah.
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5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said
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unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength <I>lieth,</I>
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and by what <I>means</I> we may prevail against him, that we may bind
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him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven
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hundred <I>pieces</I> of silver.
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6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy
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great strength <I>lieth,</I> and wherewith thou mightest be bound to
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afflict thee.
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7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green
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withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as
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another man.
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8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven
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green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with
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them.
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9 Now <I>there were</I> men lying in wait, abiding with her in the
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chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines <I>be</I> upon thee,
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Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when
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it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
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10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me,
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and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou
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mightest be bound.
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11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes
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that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another
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man.
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12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith,
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and said unto him, The Philistines <I>be</I> upon thee, Samson. And
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<I>there were</I> liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake
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them from off his arms like a thread.
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13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me,
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and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And
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he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with
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the web.
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14 And she fastened <I>it</I> with the pin, and said unto him, The
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Philistines <I>be</I> upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his
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sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
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15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when
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thine heart <I>is</I> not with me? thou hast mocked me these three
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times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength <I>lieth.</I>
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16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her
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words, and urged him, <I>so</I> that his soul was vexed unto death;
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17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There
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hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I <I>have been</I> a
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Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my
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strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like
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any <I>other</I> man.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The burnt child dreads the fire; yet Samson, that has more than the
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strength of a man, in this comes short of the wisdom of a child; for,
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though he had been more than once brought into the highest degree of
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mischief and danger by the love of women and lusting after them, yet he
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would not take warning, but is here again taken in the same snare, and
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this third time pays for all. Solomon seems to refer especially to this
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story of Samson when, in his caution against uncleanness, he gives this
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account of a whorish woman
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+7:26">Prov. vii. 26</A>),
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that <I>she hath cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have been
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slain by her;</I> and
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:26">Prov. vi. 26</A>)
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that <I>the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.</I> This bad
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woman, that brought Samson to ruin, is here named <I>Delilah,</I> an
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infamous name, and fitly used to express the person, or thing, that by
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flattery or falsehood brings mischief and destruction on those to whom
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kindness is pretended. See here,</P>
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<P>
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I. The affection Samson had for Delilah: he loved her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Some think she was his wife, but then he would have had her home to his
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own house; others that he courted her to make her his wife; but there
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is too much reason to suspect that it was a sinful affection he had for
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her, and that he lived in uncleanness with her. Whether she was an
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Israelite or a Philistine is not certain. If an Israelite, which is
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scarcely probable, yet she had the heart of a Philistine.</P>
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<P>
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II. The interest which the lords of the Philistines made with her to
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betray Samson,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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1. That which they told her they designed was to humble him, or afflict
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him; they would promise not to do him any hurt, only they would disable
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him not to do them any. And so much conscience it should seem they made
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of this promise that even then, when he lay ever so much at their
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mercy, they would not kill him, no, not when the razor that cut his
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hair might sooner and more easily have cut his throat.
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2. That which they desired, in order hereunto, was to know where his
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great strength lay, and by what means he might be bound. Perhaps they
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imagined he had some spell or charm which he carried about with him, by
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the force of which he did these great things, and doubted not but that,
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if they could get this from him, he would be manageable; and therefore,
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having had reason enough formerly to know which was his blind side,
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hoped to find out his riddle a second time by ploughing with his
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heifer. They engaged Delilah to get it out of him, telling her what a
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kindness it would be to them, and perhaps assuring her it should not be
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improved to any real mischief, either to him or her.
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3. For this they bid high, promised to give her each of them 1100
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pieces of silver, 5500 in all. So many shekels amounted to above
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1000<I>l.</I> sterling; with this she was hired to betray one she
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pretended to love. See what horrid wickedness the love of money is the
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root of. Our blessed Saviour was thus betrayed by one whom he called
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<I>friend,</I> and with a kiss too, for filthy lucre. No marvel if
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those who are unchaste, as Delilah, be unjust; such as lose their
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honesty in one instance will in another.</P>
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<P>
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III. The arts by which he put her off from time to time, and kept his
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own counsel a great while. She asked him <I>where his great strength
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lay,</I> and whether it were possible for him to be bound and afflicted
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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pretending that she only desired he would satisfy her curiosity in that
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one thing, and that she thought it was impossible he should be bound
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otherwise than by her charms.</P>
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<P>
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1. When she urged him very much, he told her,
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(1.) That he might be bound with <I>seven green withs,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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The experiment was tried
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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but it would not do: he <I>broke the withs</I> as easily <I>as a thread
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of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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(2.) When she still continued her importunity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>)
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he told her that with two new ropes he might be so cramped and hampered
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that he might be as easily dealt with as any other man,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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This experiment was tried too, but it failed: the <I>new ropes</I>
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broke from off his arm <I>like a thread,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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(3.) When she still pressed him to communicate the secret, and
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upbraided him with it as an unkindness that he had bantered her so
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long, he then told her that the weaving of the seven locks of his head
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would make a great alteration in him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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This came nearer the matter than any thing he had yet said, but it
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would not do: his strength appeared to be very much in his hair, when,
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upon the trial of this, purely by the strength of his hair, he carried
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away the <I>pin of the beam</I> and <I>the web.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. In the making of all these experiments, it is hard to say whether
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there appears more of Samson's weakness or Delilah's wickedness.
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(1.) Could any thing be more wicked than her restless and unreasonable
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importunity with him to discover a secret which she knew would endanger
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his life if ever it were lodged any where but in his own breast? What
|
|
could be more base and disingenuous, more false and treacherous, than
|
|
to lay his head in her lap, as one whom she loved, and at the same time
|
|
to design the betraying of him to those by whom he was mortally hated?
|
|
|
|
(2.) Could any thing be more weak than for him to continue a parley
|
|
with one who, he so plainly saw, was aiming to do him a mischief,--that
|
|
he should lend an ear so long to such an impudent request, that she
|
|
might know how to do him a mischief,--that when he perceived liers in
|
|
wait for him in the chamber, and that they were ready to apprehend him
|
|
if they had been able, he did not immediately quit the chamber, with a
|
|
resolution never to come into it any more,--nay, that he should again
|
|
lay his head in that lap out of which he had been so often roused with
|
|
that alarm, <I>The Philistines are upon thee, Samson?</I> One can
|
|
hardly imagine a man so perfectly besotted, and void of all
|
|
consideration, as Samson now was; but whoredom is one of those things
|
|
that <I>take away the heart.</I> It is hard to say what Samson meant in
|
|
suffering her to try so often whether she could weaken and afflict him;
|
|
some think he did not certainly know himself where his strength lay,
|
|
but, it should seem, he did know, for, when he told her that which
|
|
would disable him indeed, it is said, <I>He told her all his heart.</I>
|
|
It seems, he designed to banter her, and to try if he could turn it off
|
|
with a jest, and to baffle the <I>liers in wait,</I> and make fools of
|
|
them; but it was very unwise in him that he did not quit the field as
|
|
soon as ever he perceived that he was not able to keep the ground.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The disclosure he at last made of this great secret; and, if the
|
|
disclosure proved fatal to him, he must thank himself, who had not
|
|
power to keep his own counsel from one that manifestly sought his ruin.
|
|
<I>Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird,</I> but
|
|
in Samson's sight is the net spread, and yet he is taken in it. If he
|
|
had not been blind before the Philistines put out his eyes, he might
|
|
have seen himself betrayed. Delilah signifies a <I>consumer;</I> she
|
|
was so to him. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How she teazed him, telling him she would not believe he loved her,
|
|
unless he would gratify her in this matter
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>How canst thou say, I love thee, when they heart is not with me?</I>
|
|
That is, "when thou canst not trust me with the counsels of they
|
|
heart?" Passionate lovers cannot bear to have their love called in
|
|
question; they would do any thing rather than their sincerity should be
|
|
suspected. Here therefore Delilah had this fond fool (excuse me that I
|
|
call him so) at an advantage. This expostulation is indeed grounded
|
|
upon a great truth, that those only have our love, not that have our
|
|
good words or our good wishes, but that have our hearts. That is love
|
|
without dissimulation; but it is falsehood and flattery in the highest
|
|
degree to say we love those with whom our hearts are not. How can we say
|
|
we love either our brother, whom we have seen, or God, whom we have not
|
|
seen, if our hearts be not with him? She continued many days vexatious
|
|
to him with her importunity, so that he had no pleasure of his life
|
|
with her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>);
|
|
|
|
why then did he not leave her? It was because he was captivated to her
|
|
by the power of love, falsely so called, but truly lust. This bewitched
|
|
and perfectly intoxicated him, and by the force of it see,
|
|
|
|
2. How she conquered him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
He <I>told her all his heart.</I> God left him to himself to do this
|
|
foolish thing, to punish him for indulging himself in the lusts of
|
|
uncleanness. The angel that foretold his birth said nothing of his
|
|
great strength, but only that he should be a Nazarite, and particularly
|
|
that <I>no razor should come upon his head,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:5"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
His consecration to God was to be his strength, for he was to be
|
|
<I>strengthened according to the glorious power of that Spirit which
|
|
wrought in him mightily,</I> that his strength, by promise, not by
|
|
nature, might be a type and figure of the spiritual strength of
|
|
believers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:11,29">Col. i. 11, 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Therefore the badge of his consecration was the pledge of his strength;
|
|
if he lose the former, he knows he forfeits the latter. "If I be
|
|
shaven, I shall no longer be a Nazarite, and then my strength will be
|
|
lost." The making of his bodily strength to depend so much on his hair,
|
|
which could have no natural influence upon it either one way or other,
|
|
teaches us to magnify divine institutions, and to expect God's grace,
|
|
and the continuance of it, only the use of those means of grace wherein
|
|
he has appointed us to attend upon him, the word, sacraments, and
|
|
prayer. In these earthen vessels is this treasure.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Samson Betrayed.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1120.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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 showed 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 <I>be</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the fatal consequences of Samson's folly in betraying his
|
|
own strength; he soon paid dearly for it. A <I>whore is a deep ditch;
|
|
he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.</I> In that pit
|
|
Samson sinks. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What care Delilah took to make sure of the money for herself. She
|
|
now perceived, by the manner of his speaking, that he had <I>told her
|
|
all his heart,</I> and the lords of the Philistines that hired her to
|
|
do this base thing are sent for; but they must be sure to bring <I>the
|
|
money in their hands,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
The wages of unrighteousness are accordingly produced, unknown to
|
|
Samson. It would have grieved one's heart to have seen one of the
|
|
bravest men then in the world sold and bought, as a <I>sheep for the
|
|
slaughter;</I> how does this instance sully all the glory of man, and
|
|
forbid the strong man ever to boast of his strength!
|
|
|
|
2. What course she took to deliver him up to them according to the
|
|
bargain. Many in the world would, for the hundredth part of what was
|
|
here given Delilah, sell those that they pretend the greatest respect
|
|
for. <I>Trust not in a friend then, put no confidence in a guide.</I>
|
|
See what a treacherous method she took
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
She <I>made him sleep upon her knees.</I> Josephus says, She gave him
|
|
some intoxicating liquor, which laid him to sleep. What opiates she
|
|
might steal into his cup we know not, but we cannot suppose that he
|
|
knowingly drank wine or strong drink, for that would have been a
|
|
forfeiture of his Nazariteship as much as the cutting off of his hair.
|
|
She pretended the greatest kindness even when she designed the greatest
|
|
mischief, which yet she could not have compassed if she had not made
|
|
him sleep. See the fatal consequences of security. Satan ruins men by
|
|
rocking them asleep, flattering them into a good opinion of their own
|
|
safety, and so bringing them to mind nothing and fear nothing, and then
|
|
he robs them of their strength and honour and leads them captive at his
|
|
will. When we sleep our spiritual enemies do not. When he was asleep
|
|
she had a person ready to cut off his hair, which he did so silently
|
|
and so quickly that it did not awake him, but plainly afflicted him;
|
|
even in his sleep, his spirit manifestly sunk upon it. I think we may
|
|
suppose that if this ill turn had been done to him in his sleep by some
|
|
spiteful body, without his being himself accessory to it, as he was
|
|
here, it would not have had this strange effect upon him; but it was
|
|
his own wickedness that corrected him. It was his iniquity, else it
|
|
would not have been so much his infelicity.
|
|
|
|
3. What little concern he himself was in at it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
He could not but miss his hair as soon as he awoke, and yet said, "<I>I
|
|
will shake myself as at other times</I> after sleep," or, "as at other
|
|
times when the Philistines were upon me, to make my part good against
|
|
them." Perhaps he thought to shake himself the more easily, and that
|
|
his head would feel the lighter, now that his hair was cut, little
|
|
thinking how much heavier the burden of guilt was than that of hair. He
|
|
soon found in himself some change, we have reason to think so, and yet
|
|
<I>wist not that the Lord had departed from him:</I> he did not
|
|
consider that this was the reason of the change. Note, Many have lost
|
|
the favourable presence of God and are not aware of it; they have
|
|
provoked God to withdraw from them, but are not sensible of their loss,
|
|
nor ever complain of it. Their souls languish and grow weak, their
|
|
gifts wither, every thing goes cross with them; and yet they impute not
|
|
this to the right cause: they are not aware that <I>God has departed
|
|
from them,</I> nor are they in any care to reconcile themselves to him
|
|
or to recover his favour. When God has departed we cannot do as at
|
|
other times.
|
|
|
|
4. What improvement the Philistines soon made of their advantages
|
|
against him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Philistines took him when God had departed from him. Those that
|
|
have thrown themselves out of God's protection become an easy prey to
|
|
their enemies. If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly
|
|
wake in the hands of the Philistines. It is probable they had promised
|
|
Delilah not to kill him, but they took an effectual course to disable
|
|
him. The first thing they did, when they had him in their hands and
|
|
found they could manage him, was to <I>put out his eyes,</I> by
|
|
<I>applying fire to them,</I> says the Arabic version. They considered
|
|
that his eyes would never come again, as perhaps his hair might, and
|
|
that the strongest arms could do little without eyes to guide the, and
|
|
therefore, if now they blind him, they for ever blind him. His eyes
|
|
were the inlets of his sin: he saw the harlot at Gaza, and went in unto
|
|
her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and now his punishment began there. Now that the Philistines had
|
|
blinded him he had time to remember how his own lust had blinded him.
|
|
The best preservative of the eyes is to turn them away from beholding
|
|
vanity. <I>They brought him down to Gaza,</I> that there he might
|
|
appear in weakness where he had lately given such proofs of his
|
|
strength
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and be a jest to those to whom he had been a terror. They <I>bound him
|
|
with fetters of brass</I> who had before been held in the cords of his
|
|
own iniquity, and he did <I>grind in the prison,</I> work in their
|
|
bridewell, either for their profit or his punishment, or for both. The
|
|
devil does thus by sinners, <I>blinds the minds of those who believe
|
|
not,</I> and so enslaves them, and secures them in his interests. Poor
|
|
Samson, how hast thou fallen! How is thy honour laid in the dust! How
|
|
has the glory and defence of Israel become the drudge and triumph of
|
|
the Philistines! <I>The crown has fallen from his head; woe unto him,
|
|
for he hath sinned.</I> Let all take warning by his fall carefully to
|
|
preserve their purity, and to watch against all fleshly lusts; for all
|
|
our glory has gone, and our defence departed form us, when the covenant
|
|
of our separation to God, as spiritual Nazarites, is profaned.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud16_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Death of Samson; Samson's Triumph in Death.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1120.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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 <I>were</I> there; and <I>there were</I> upon the roof
|
|
about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made
|
|
sport.
|
|
28 And Samson called unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
|
|
and said, O Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>,
|
|
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 <I>all his</I> might; and the house fell upon the
|
|
lords, and upon all the people that <I>were</I> therein. So the dead
|
|
which he slew at his death were more than <I>they</I> which he slew in
|
|
his life.
|
|
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down,
|
|
and took him, and brought <I>him</I> up, and buried him between Zorah
|
|
and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he
|
|
judged Israel twenty years.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Though the last stage of Samson's life was inglorious, and one could
|
|
wish there were a veil drawn over it, yet this account here given of
|
|
his death may be allowed to lessen, though it does not quite roll away,
|
|
the reproach of it; for there was honour in his death. No doubt he
|
|
greatly repented of his sin, the dishonour he had by it done to God and
|
|
his forfeiture of the honour God had put upon him; for that God was
|
|
reconciled to him appears,
|
|
|
|
1. By the return of the sign of his Nazariteship
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His hair began to grow again, as when he was shaven,</I> that is, to
|
|
be as thick and as long as when it was cut off. It is probable that
|
|
their general thanksgiving to Dagon was not long deferred, before which
|
|
Samson's hair had thus grown, by which, and the particular notice taken
|
|
of it, it seems to have been extraordinary, and designed for a special
|
|
indication of the return of God's favour to him upon his repentance.
|
|
For the growth of his hair was neither the cause nor the sign of the
|
|
return of his strength further than as it was the badge of his
|
|
consecration, and a token that God accepted him as a Nazarite again,
|
|
after the interruption, without those ceremonies which were appointed
|
|
for the restoration of a lapsed Nazarite, which he had not now the
|
|
opportunity of performing,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+6:9">Num. vi. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is strange that the Philistines in whose hands he was were not
|
|
jealous of the growth of his hair again, and did not cut it; but
|
|
perhaps they were willing his great strength should return to him, that
|
|
they might have so much the more work out of him, and now that he was
|
|
blind they were in no fear of any hurt from him.
|
|
|
|
2. By the use God made of him for the destruction of the enemies of his
|
|
people, and that at a time when it would be most for the vindication of
|
|
the honour of God, and not immediately for the defence and deliverance
|
|
of Israel. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How insolently the Philistines affronted the God of Israel,
|
|
|
|
1. By the sacrifices they offered to Dagon, his rival. This Dagon they
|
|
call their <I>god,</I> a god of their own making, represented by an
|
|
image, the upper part of which was in the shape of a man, the lower
|
|
part of a fish, purely the creature of fancy; yet it served them to set
|
|
up in opposition to the true and living God. To this pretended deity
|
|
they ascribe their success
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Our god has delivered Samson our enemy, and the destroyer of our
|
|
country, into our hands.</I> So they dreamed, though he could do
|
|
neither good nor evil. They knew Delilah had betrayed him, and they had
|
|
paid her for doing it, yet they attribute it to their god, and are
|
|
confirmed by it in their belief of his power to protect them. All
|
|
people will thus walk in the name of their gods: they will give them
|
|
the praise of their achievements; and shall not we pay this tribute to
|
|
our God whose kingdom ruleth over all? Yet, considering what wicked
|
|
arts they used to get Samson into their hands, it must be confessed it
|
|
was only such a dunghill-deity as Dagon that was fit to be made a
|
|
patron of the villany. Sacrifices were offered, and songs of praise
|
|
sung, on the general thanksgiving day, for this victory obtained over
|
|
one man; there were great expressions of joy, and all to the honour of
|
|
Dagon. Much more reason have we to give the praise of all our successes
|
|
to our God. <I>Thanks be to him who causeth us to triumph in Christ
|
|
Jesus!</I>
|
|
|
|
2. By the sport they made with Samson, God's champion, they reflected
|
|
on God himself. When they were merry with wine, to make them more merry
|
|
Samson must be fetched to make sport for them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:25,27"><I>v.</I> 25, 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, for them to make sport with. Having sacrificed to their god,
|
|
and eaten and drunk upon the sacrifice, they rose up to play, according
|
|
to the usage of idolaters
|
|
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:7">1 Cor. x. 7</A>),
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and Samson must be the fool in the play. They made themselves and one
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another laugh to see how, being blind, he stumbled and blundered. It is
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likely they <I>smote this judge of Israel upon the cheek</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+5:1">Mic. v. 1</A>),
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and said, <I>Prophesy who smote thee.</I> It was an instance of their
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barbarity to trample thus upon a man in misery, at the sight of whom
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awhile ago they would have trembled. It put Samson into the depth of
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misery, and as a sword in his bones were their reproaches, when they
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said, <I>Where is now they God?</I> Nothing could be more grievous to
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so great a spirit; yet, being a penitent, his godly sorrow makes him
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patient, and he accepts the indignity as the punishment of his
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iniquity. How unrighteous soever the Philistines were, he could not but
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own that God was righteous. He had sported himself in his own
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deceivings and with his own deceivers, and justly are the Philistines
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let loose upon him to make sport with him. Uncleanness is a sin that
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|
makes men vile, and exposes them to contempt. <I>A wound and dishonour
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shall he get</I> whose heart is deceived by a woman, and <I>his
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reproach shall not be wiped away.</I> Everlasting shame and contempt
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will be the portion of those that are blinded and bound by their own
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lusts. The devil that deceived them will insult over them.</P>
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<P>
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II. How justly the God of Israel brought sudden destruction upon them
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by the hands of Samson. Thousands of the Philistines had got together,
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to attend their lords in the sacrifices and joys of this day, and to be
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the spectators of this comedy; but it proved to them a fatal tragedy,
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for they were all slain, and buried in the ruins of the house: whether
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it was a temple or a theatre, or whether it was some slight building
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run up for the purpose, is uncertain. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. Who were destroyed: All the <I>lords of the Philistines</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
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who had by bribes corrupted Delilah to betray Samson to them. Evil
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|
pursued those sinners. Many of the people likewise, to the number of
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|
3000, and among them a great many women, one of whom, it is likely, was
|
|
that harlot of Gaza mentioned,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Samson had been drawn into sin by the Philistine women, and now a great
|
|
slaughter is made among them, as was by Moses's order among the women
|
|
of Midian, because it was they that <I>caused the children of Israel to
|
|
trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+31:16">Num. xxxi. 16</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. When they were destroyed.
|
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(1.) When they were merry, secure, and jovial, and far from
|
|
apprehending themselves in any danger. When they saw Samson lay hold of
|
|
the pillars, we may suppose, his doing so served them for a jest, and
|
|
they made sport with that too: <I>What will this feeble Jew do?</I> How
|
|
are sinners brought to desolation in a moment! They are lifted up in
|
|
pride and mirth, that their fall may be the more dreadful. Let us never
|
|
envy the mirth of wicked people, but infer from this instance that
|
|
their triumphing is short and their joy but for a moment.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It was when they were praising Dagon their god, and giving that
|
|
honour to him which is due to God only, which is no less than treason
|
|
against the King of kings, his crown and dignity. Justly therefore is
|
|
the blood of these traitors mingled with their sacrifices. Belshazzar
|
|
was cut off when he was praising his man-made gods,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:4">Dan. v. 4</A>.
|
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|
|
(3.) It was when they were making sport with an Israelite, a Nazarite,
|
|
and insulting over him, persecuting him whom God had smitten. Nothing
|
|
fills the measure of the iniquity of any person or people faster than
|
|
mocking and misusing the servants of God, yea, though it is by their
|
|
own folly that they are brought low. Those know not what they do, nor
|
|
whom they affront, that make sport with a good man.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. How they were destroyed. Samson pulled the house down upon them, God
|
|
no doubt putting it into his heart, as a public person, thus to avenge
|
|
God's quarrel with them, Israel's, and his own.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He gained strength to do it by prayer,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
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|
|
That strength which he had lost by sin he, like a true penitent,
|
|
recovers by prayer; as David, who, when he had provoked the Spirit of
|
|
grace to withdraw, prayed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+51:12">Ps. li. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy
|
|
free Spirit.</I> We may suppose that this was only a mental prayer, and
|
|
that his voice was not heard (for it was made in a noisy clamorous
|
|
crowd of Philistines); but, though his voice was not heard of men, yet
|
|
his prayer was heard of God and graciously answered, and though he
|
|
lived not to give an account himself of this his prayer, as Nehemiah
|
|
did of his, yet God not only accepted it in heaven, but, by revealing
|
|
it to the inspired penmen, provided for the registering of it in his
|
|
church. He prayed to God to remember him and strengthen him this once,
|
|
thereby owning that his strength for what he had already done he had
|
|
from God, and begged it might be afforded to him once more, to give
|
|
them a parting blow. That it was not from a principle of passion or
|
|
personal revenge, but from a holy zeal for the glory of God and Israel,
|
|
that he desired to do this, appears from God's accepting and answering
|
|
the prayer. Samson died praying, so did our blessed Saviour; but Samson
|
|
prayed for vengeance, Christ for forgiveness.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He gained opportunity to do it by leaning on the two pillars which
|
|
were the chief supports of the building, and were, it seems, so near
|
|
together that he could take hold of them both at one time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:26,29"><I>v.</I> 26, 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Having hold of them, he bore them down with all his might, crying
|
|
aloud, <I>Let me die with the Philistines,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+16:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Animamque in vulnere ponit--While inflicting the wound he dies.</I>
|
|
The vast concourse of people that were upon the roof looking down
|
|
through it to see the sport, we may suppose, contributed to the fall of
|
|
it. A weight so much greater than ever it was designed to carry might
|
|
perhaps have sunk of itself, at least it made the fall more fatal to
|
|
those within: and indeed few of either could escape being either
|
|
stifled or crushed to death. This was done, not by any natural strength
|
|
of Samson, but by the almighty power of God, and is not only
|
|
marvellous, but miraculous, in our eyes. Now in this,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The Philistines were greatly mortified. All their lords and great
|
|
men were killed, and abundance of their people, and this in the midst
|
|
of their triumph; the temple of Dagon (as many think the house was) was
|
|
pulled down, and Dagon buried in it. This would give a great check to
|
|
the insolence of the survivors, and, if Israel had but had so much
|
|
sense and spirit left them as to improve the advantages of this
|
|
juncture, they might now have thrown off the Philistines' yoke.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Samson may very well be justified, and brought in not guilty of
|
|
any sinful murder either of himself or the Philistines. He was a public
|
|
person, a declared enemy to the Philistines, against whom he might
|
|
therefore take all advantages. They were now in the most barbarous
|
|
manner making war upon him; all present were aiding and abetting, and
|
|
justly die with him. Nor was he <I>felo de se,</I> or <I>a
|
|
self-murderer,</I> in it; for it was not his own life that he aimed at,
|
|
though he had too much reason to be weary of it, but the lives of
|
|
Israel's enemies, for the reaching of which he bravely resigned his
|
|
own, <I>not counting it dear to him, so that he might finish his
|
|
course</I> with honour.
|
|
|
|
[3.] God was very much glorified in pardoning Samson's great
|
|
transgressions, of which this was an evidence. It has been said that
|
|
the prince's giving a commission to one convicted amounts to a pardon.
|
|
Yet, <I>though he was a God that forgave him, he took vengeance of his
|
|
inventions</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:8">Ps. xcix. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, by suffering his champion to die in fetters, warned all to take
|
|
heed of those lusts which war against the soul. However, we have good
|
|
reason to hope that though Samson died with the Philistines he had not
|
|
his everlasting portion with them. <I>The Lord knows those that are
|
|
his.</I>
|
|
|
|
[4.] Christ was plainly typified. He pulled down the devil's kingdom,
|
|
as Samson did Dagon's temple; and, when he died, he obtained the most
|
|
glorious victory over the powers of darkness. Then when his arms were
|
|
stretched out upon the cross, as Samson's to the two pillars, he gave a
|
|
fatal shake to the gates of hell, and, <I>through death, destroyed him
|
|
that had the power of death, that is, the devil</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:14,15">Heb. ii. 14, 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
and herein exceeded Samson, that he not only died with the Philistines,
|
|
but rose again to triumph over them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> The story of Samson concludes,
|
|
|
|
1. With an account of his burial. His own relations, animated by the
|
|
glories that attended his death, came and found out his body among the
|
|
slain, brought it honourably to his own country, and buried it in the
|
|
place of his fathers' sepulchres, the Philistines being in such a
|
|
consternation that they durst not oppose it.
|
|
|
|
2. With the repetition of the account we had before of the continuance
|
|
of his government: <I>He judged Israel twenty years;</I> and, if they
|
|
had not been as mean and sneaking as he was brave and daring, he would
|
|
have left them clear of the Philistines' yoke. They might have been
|
|
easy, safe, and happy, if they would but have given God and their
|
|
judges leave to make them so.</P>
|
|
|
|
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