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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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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. XV.</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, when he courted an alliance with the Philistines, did but seek
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an occasion against them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:4"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 4</A>.
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Now here we have a further account of the occasions he took to weaken
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them, and to avenge, not his own, but Israel's quarrels, upon them.
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Everything here is surprising; if any thing be thought incredible,
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because impossible, it must be remembered that with God nothing is
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impossible, and it was by the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him that
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he was both directed to and strengthened for those unusual ways of
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making war.
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I. From the perfidiousness of his wife and her father, he took occasion
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to burn their corn,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. From the Philistines' barbarous cruelty to his wife and her father,
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he took occasion to smite them with a great slaughter,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:6-8">ver. 6-8</A>.
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III. From the treachery of his countrymen, who delivered him bound to
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the Philistines, he took occasion to kill 1000 of them with the
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jaw-bone of an ass,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:9-17">ver. 9-17</A>.
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IV. From the distress he was then in for want of water, God took
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occasion to show him favour in a seasonable supply,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:18-20">ver. 18-20</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud15_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_8"> </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 Firebrands.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1141.</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 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of
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wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he
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said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father
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would not suffer him to go in.
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2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly
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hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: <I>is</I> not her
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younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of
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her.
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3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more
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blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
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4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took
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firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the
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midst between two tails.
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5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let <I>them</I> go into
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the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the
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shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards <I>and</I>
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olives.
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6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they
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answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had
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taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the
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Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
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7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will
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I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
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8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and
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he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Samson's return to his wife, whom he had left in displeasure; not
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hearing perhaps that she was given to another, when time had a little
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cooled his resentments, he came back to her, <I>visited her with a
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kid,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The value of the present was inconsiderable, but it was intended as a
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token of reconciliation, and perhaps was then so used, when those that
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had been at variance were brought together again; he sent this, that he
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might sup with her in her apartments, and she with him, on his
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provision, and so they might be friends again. It was generously done
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of Samson, though he was the party offended and the superior relation,
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to whom therefore she was bound in duty to sue for peace and to make
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the first motion of reconciliation. When differences happen between
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near relations, let hose be ever reckoned the wisest and the best that
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are most forward to forgive and forget injuries and most willing to
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stoop and yield for peace' sake.</P>
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<P>
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II. The repulse he met with. Her father forbade him to come near her;
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for truly he had married her to another,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He endeavours,
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1. To justify himself in this wrong: <I>I verily thought that thou
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hadst utterly hated her.</I> A very ill opinion he had of Samson,
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measuring that Nazarite by the common temper of the Philistines; could
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he think worse of him than to suspect that, because he was justly angry
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with his wife, he utterly hated her, and, because he had seen cause to
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return to his father's house for a while, therefore he had abandoned
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her for ever? Yet this is all he had to say in excuse of this injury.
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Thus he made the worst of jealousies to patronize the worst of
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robberies. But it will never bear us out in doing ill to say, "We
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thought others designed ill."
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2. He endeavours to pacify Samson by offering him his younger daughter,
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whom, because the handsomer, he thought Samson might accept, in full
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recompence for the wrong. See what confusions those did admit and bring
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their families to that were not governed by the fear and law of God,
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marrying a daughter this week to one and next week to another, giving a
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man one daughter first and then another. Samson scorned his proposal;
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he knew better things than <I>to take a wife to her sister,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:18">Lev. xviii. 18</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. The revenge Samson took upon the Philistines for this abuse. Had
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he designed herein only to plead his own cause he would have challenged
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his rival, and would have chastised him and his father-in-law only. But
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he looks upon himself as a public person, and the affront as done to
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the whole nation of Israel, for probably they put this slight upon him
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because he was of that nation, and pleased themselves with it, that
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they had put such an abuse upon an Israelite; and therefore he resolves
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to do the Philistines a displeasure, and does not doubt but this
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treatment which he had met with among them would justify him in it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines.</I> He had done
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what became him in offering to be reconciled to his wife, but, she
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having rendered it impracticable, now they could not blame him if he
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showed his just resentment. Note, When differences arise we ought to do
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our duty in order to the ending of them, and then, whatever the ill
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consequences of them may be, we shall be blameless. Now the way Samson
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took to be revenged on them was by setting their corn-fields on fire,
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which would be a great weakening and impoverishing to the country,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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1. The method he took to do it was very strange. He sent 150 couple of
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foxes, tied tail to tail, into the corn-fields; every couple had a
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stick of fire between their tails, with which, being terrified, they
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ran into the corn for shelter, and so set fire to it; thus the fire
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would break out in many places at the same time, and therefore could
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not be conquered, especially if this was done, as it is probable it
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was, in the night. He might have employed men to do it, but perhaps he
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could not find Israelites enough that had courage to do it, and he
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himself could do it but in one place at a time, which would not effect
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his purpose. We never find Samson, in any of his exploits, making use
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of any person whatsoever, either servant or soldier, therefore, in this
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project, he chose to make use of foxes as his incendiaries. They had
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injured Samson by their subtlety and malice, and now Samson returns the
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injury by subtle foxes and mischievous fire-brands. By the meanness and
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weakness of the animals he employed, he designed to put contempt upon
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the enemies he fought against. This stratagem is often alluded to to
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show how the church's adversaries, that are of different interests and
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designs among themselves, that look and draw contrary ways in other
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things, yet have often united in a fire-brand, some cursed project or
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other, to waste the church of God, and particularly to kindle the fire
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of division in it.
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2. The mischief he hereby did to the Philistines was very great. It was
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in the time of wheat harvest
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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so that the straw being dry it soon burnt the shocks of corn that were
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cut, and <I>the standing corn, and the vineyards and olives.</I> This
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was a waste of the good creatures, but where other acts of hostility
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are lawful destroying the forage is justly reckoned to be so: if he
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might take away their lives, he might take away their livelihood. And
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God was righteous in it: the <I>corn, and the wine, and the oil,</I>
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which they had prepared for Dagon, to be a meat-offering to him, were
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thus, in the season thereof, made a burnt-offering to God's
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justice.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The Philistines' outrage against Samson's treacherous wife and her
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father. Understanding that they had provoked Samson to do this mischief
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to the country, the rabble set upon them and burnt them with fire,
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perhaps in their own house,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Samson himself they durst not attack, and therefore, with more justice
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than perhaps they themselves designed in it, they wreak their vengeance
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upon those who, they could not but own, had given him cause to be
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angry. Instead of taking vengeance upon Samson, they took vengeance for
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him, when he, out of respect to the relation he had stood in to them,
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was not willing to do it for himself. See his hand in it <I>to whom
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vengeance belongs.</I> Those that deal treacherously shall be spoiled
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and dealt treacherously with; and <I>the Lord is known by these
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judgments which he executes,</I> especially when, as here, he makes use
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of his people's enemies as instruments for revenging one upon another
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his people's quarrels. When a barbarous Philistine sets fire to a
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treacherous one, the <I>righteous</I> may <I>rejoice to see the
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vengeance,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+58:10,11">Ps. lviii. 10, 11</A>.
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Thus shall <I>the wrath of man praise God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:10">Ps. lxxvi. 10</A>.
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The Philistines had threatened Samson's wife, that, if she would not
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get the riddle out of him, they would <I>burn her and her father's
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house with fire,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+14:15"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 15</A>.
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She, to save herself and oblige her countrymen, betrayed her husband;
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and what came of it? The very thing that she feared, and sought by sin
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to avoid, came upon her; she and her father's house were burnt with
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fire, and her countrymen, whom she sought to oblige by the wrong she
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did to her husband, brought this evil upon her. The mischief we seek to
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escape by any unlawful practices we often pull upon our own heads.
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<I>He that will</I> thus <I>save his life shall lose it.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. The occasion Samson took hence to do them a yet greater mischief,
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which touched their bone and their flesh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.
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"<I>Though you have done this</I> to them, and thereby shown what you
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would do to me if you could, yet that shall not deter me from being
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further vexatious to you." Or, "Though you think, by doing this, you
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have made me satisfaction for the affront I received among you, yet I
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have Israel's cause to plead as a public person, and for the wrongs
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done to them <I>I will be avenged on you,</I> and, if you will then
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forbear your insults, I will cease, aiming at no more than the
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deliverance of Israel." So he <I>smote them hip and thigh with a great
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stroke,</I> so the word is. We suppose the wounds he gave them to have
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been mortal, as wounds in the hip or thigh often prove, and therefore
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translate it, <I>with a great slaughter.</I> Some think he only lamed
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them, disabled them for service, as horses were houghed or ham-strung.
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It seems to be a phrase used to express a desperate attack; he killed
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them pell-mell, or routed them horse and foot. He smote them with his
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hip upon thigh, that is, with the strength he had, not in his arms and
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hands, but in his hips and thighs, for he kicked and spurned at them,
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and so mortified them, <I>trod them in his anger,</I> and <I>trampled
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them in his fury,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:3">Isa. lxiii. 3</A>.
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And, when he had done, he retired to a natural fortress in the top of
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the rock Etam, where he waited to see whether the Philistines would be
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tamed by the correction he had given them.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud15_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud15_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>Samson Bound by the Men of Judah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1140.</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>9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and
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spread themselves in Lehi.
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10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us?
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And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as
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he hath done to us.
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11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock
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Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines
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<I>are</I> rulers over us? what <I>is</I> this <I>that</I> thou hast done unto
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us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done
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unto them.
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12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that
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we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson
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said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me
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yourselves.
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13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee
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fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not
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kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him
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up from the rock.
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14 <I>And</I> when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted
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against him: and the Spirit of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came mightily upon him,
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and the cords that <I>were</I> upon his arms became as flax that was
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burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
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15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his
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hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
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16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon
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heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
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17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking,
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that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that
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place Ramath-lehi.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Samson violently pursued by the Philistine. They went up in a body,
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a more formidable force than they had together when Samson smote them
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hip and thigh; and they pitched in Judah, and spread themselves up and
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down the country, to find out Samson, who they heard had come this way,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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When the men of Judah, who had tamely submitted to their yoke, pleaded
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that they had paid their tribute, and that none of their tribe had
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given them any offence, they freely own they designed nothing in this
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invasion but to seize Samson; they would fight <I>neither against small
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nor great,</I> but only that judge of Israel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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to <I>do to him as he has done to us,</I> that is, to smite his hip and
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thigh, as he did ours--<I>an eye for an eye.</I> Here was an army sent
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against one man, for indeed he was himself an army. Thus a whole band
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of men was sent to seize our Lord Jesus, that blessed Samson, though a
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tenth part would have served now that his hour had come, and ten times
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as many would have done nothing if he had not yielded.</P>
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<P>
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II. Samson basely betrayed and delivered up by the men of Judah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
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|
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
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+57:9">Isa. lvii. 9</A>)
|
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|
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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,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+7:25">Acts vii. 25</A>.
|
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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>
|
|
|
|
III. Samson tamely yielding to be bound by his countrymen, and
|
|
delivered into the hands of his enraged enemies,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+23:10">Josh. xxiii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+11:11">1 Chron. xi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Another slew of them till his hand was weary and stuck to his sword,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+23:10">2 Sam. xxiii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud15_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud15_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud15_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Samson's Thirst Relieved.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1140.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The distress which Samson was in after this great performance
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+1:10">2 Cor. i. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thou hast begun, wilt thou not finish? Thou hast done the greater, wilt
|
|
thou not do the less?"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+56:13">Ps. lvi. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:9,14"><I>v.</I> 9, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:17,18">Isa. xli. 17, 18</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
V. The continuance of Samson's government after these achievements,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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