25 grew, and the LORD blessed him. "And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan2 between Zorah and Eshtaol. P "ch. 3. 10; 1 Sam. 11. 6; Mt. 4. 1. ch. 18. 12. Pch. 18. 11; Jos. 15. 33 Ge. 33. 12, 13; Jos. 1:10. Ge. 6. 2; 34. 2. ! Ge. 24. 3, 4. Samson's marriage; and feats against, and transactions with, the Philistines. 14 AND Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the 2 daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philis3 tines: now therefore 'get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother Ge. 21. 21; 34. 4. said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the "uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth 4 me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines :3 for at that time the Philis5 tines had dominion over Israel. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a 6 young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in 7 his hand but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of 9 the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. 8 C 10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; 11 for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, when they saw him, that 12 they brought thirty companions to be with him. And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddles unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets9 13 and thirty change of garments: but if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets [or, shirts] and thirty change of garments. And they said 14 unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, 15 ch. 13. 1; Den. 28. 49. ch. 3. 10; 13 25; 1 Sam. 11. 6 a ch. 15. 8. 15; 16. 30; 1 Sam. 17. 34-36. 1 Ki. 10. 1; Eze. 17. 2; 1.k. 14. 7. Ge. 29. 27. Ge. 15, 22; 2 Ki. & 22 ch. 16. 5 8 ch. 16. 15. And out of the strong 10 came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that ch. 15. 6. he may declare unto us the riddle, flest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have [to impoverish us]? is it not 16 so? And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, & Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my 17 father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children 18 of her people. And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey?—and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not found 1 Stirring him up to bold exploits, and inspiring him with zeal for the deliverance of his country. 2 Heb., Mahaneh-dan,' as in ch. xviii. 12. The places mentioned in Samson's history lay near together, and not far from the territory of the Philistines. 3 It pleased God to leave Samson to follow his own inclinations; intending, in His own infinite wisdom, to overrule his conduct for good to Israel. The special purpose of God in raising up Samson seems to have been to baffle the power of the whole Philistine nation by the prowess of a single individual; thereby literally fulfilling his promise, Deut. xxxii. 30. Samson was not, like most of the other judges, appointed to lead an army, but rather to be an army himself; and the entire opposition of the Philistines was concentrated against his person. 4 The Hebrew word does not mean a young whelp, but a young full-grown lion. 5 This expression is often employed to signify a supernatural influence, raising the bodily or mental powers to an extraordinary pitch of energy. 6 Among the Jews, ten or twelve months generally elapsed between betrothal and marriage. In this interval, a swarm of bees had established themselves in the carcase of the lion, which consisted only of the bones covered with the dried skin; the flesh and all the soft parts having been picked out by insects and ravenous birds, so as to leave the skeleton entire in a clean state. 7 These companions, although brought with the show of respect, according to the custom in those times (see Matt. ix. 15; John iii. 29), seem to have been designed to be spies upon Samson. 8 This is a favourite amusement in the East with persons of all ages and classes. 9 Rather, shirts,' made of fine linen. The thirty 'changes of garments' were probably the upper vestments or tunics common in the East, usually called caftans. 10 Or, 'Out of the devourer came food; and out of the sharp, sweetness.' 11 They had doubtless plied her with gentler arguments before resorting to this extreme threat. 19 out my riddle. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. 20 3 And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.1 3 15 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. 2 But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly 'hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she?" take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than 4 [or, be blameless from] the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes,2 and took firebrands, and 5 turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the 6 vineyards and olives. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. "And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.5 7 ⚫ ver. 19. And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged 8 of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. And he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. 9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves 10 in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to 11 us. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are Prulers over us?6 whatch. 14. 4 is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto 12 me, so have I done unto them. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill.thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 14 ch. 16 9, 12 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the ch. 3 10; 14. 6, 19. Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his 15 hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took 16 it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, 17 18 With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,7 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi.8 eh. 3 31; Le 26. 8: Jos. 23 10 Pa. 3. 7, 8, 1. 31-40 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, 'Thou hast given this Sam 73 6: great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, 19 and fall into the hand of "the uncircumcised? But God clave an hollow place 20 that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, *see refs, ch. 14. 3 Ps. 34. 6 his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof 10 Ge. 15. 27: Is. 40. 29. En-hakkore [i. e. the well of him that called, or, cried], which is in Lehi unto this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.11 1 An intimate friend of the bridegroom was usually appointed to preside over all the arrangements and festivities of the marriage. 2 Or, jackals,' which are very numerous in Palestine, and associate together in large herds or packs. 3 Rather, 'torches.' 4 To prevent their retreating to their holes, and to keep the torches from dragging on the ground. 5 Thus the Philistines inflicted upon her the very doom, the threat of which had induced her to betray her husband's secret. See ch. xiv. 15, 20. 6 This shows strikingly the state of cowardice and degradation into which the Israelites had fallen. 7 This rendering is suggested by the Chaldee and Syriac, though the word used signifies everywhere else ch. 13. 1; 16 31. an ass.' The Latin Vulgate translates, 'an ass, the foal of asses.' The Septuagint regards the word as a verb, 'I have thoroughly destroyed them.' 8 That is, the lifting up of the jaw-bone;' or, perhaps, 'the hill of the jaw-bone.' 9 Rather, in Lehi.' See vers. 9, 14. 10 Or, the name thereof was called.' The meaning seems to be that in this place, called 'Lehi' from the circumstance just mentioned, God, at the prayer of Samson, opened a fountain, which was called the fountain of him that called upon God.' 11 Samson's administration is supposed, by those who adopt the shorter chronology, to have been limited to the south-west of Palestine, where the oppression of the Philistines was most severe. a Ge. 10. 19. 118. 10-12; Ac.9. 24. Samson's fall; his restored strength, and vengeance upon the Philistines. 16 THEN went Samson to a Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they 'compassed & 1 Sam. 23. 26: Ps. him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all 3 the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. 4 ePro. 22. 14; 23. 27. And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, 5 whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by d ch. 14. 15; Pro. 2. 16 what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. 6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength 7 lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs [or, new cords] that were 8 never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, 9 and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. -19; 5.3-11: 6. 24 -26; 7. 21-23. Mic. 7. 5. Pro. 12. 19. 10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me 12 man. Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said 15 25. And she said unto him, "How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is ch. 14. 16. not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me 16 wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17 that he told her all his heart, and said unto her, *There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 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 19 money in their hand. '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 20 began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD 21 was departed from him. 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. 1 Rather, And the liers in wait sat for her in [another, or inner] apartment.' As Samson was found not to be secured, they probably did not make their appearance; so Samson remained ignorant of Delilah's treachery, 2 These various attempts of the woman were no doubt made, not in immediate succession, but after intervals, as opportunities occurred. 3 As seven is frequently used as a perfect number, this may be equivalent to all my locks.' 4 Probably referring to a warp in a hand-loom, which Delilah, like other Oriental women, was in the habit of working. i Pro. 29. 11; Mic. 7.5. ch. 13. 5; Num. 6. 5. I Pro. 7. 26, 27. Num. 14. 9, 42, 43; Jos. 7. 12; 1 Sam. 16. 14; 18 12; 28. 15, 16; 2 Chr. 15. 2; Jer. 2. 19. 5 She not only wove his long hair in with the web, but fastened the web, with the hair thus woven in, with a strong pin or nail to the wall, or to the floor. 6 Not that his strength lay in his hair, but it was connected with his peculiar relation to God as a Nazarite (see ch. xiii. 7), the mark of which was the preservation of his hair unshaven. If he lost this badge of his consecration, he broke his vow, and became as a common man. 7 Or, copper; the strongest they could obtain. 8 To Samson this would be the deepest but most appropriate degradation; for grinding was the work of women, and those the lowest slaves. See Exod. xi. 5. : : 22, 23 Howbeit "the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. Then 31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and "buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.2 The history of Micah and the Danites. L. 26. 44; Dea. 32. 26. 1 Sam. 5. 2 Dall. 5. 4 1 ch. 9. 27. Deu. 22. 8. P. 71. 18, 22; Jer. 13 15 teh. 14. 19; 158, 15 ch. 13 25. * ch. 15. 21. * Pro. 28. 24 a see Ex. 20. 4, 23; Le. 19. 4. 17 AND there was a man of mount Ephraim whose name was Micah. And he 7 see ch. 8. 27. In Gr. 31. 19, 30; Hes And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah,8 8 who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came 9 to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. And Micah said 1 Or, and he leaned himself upon them.' Large eastern buildings commonly surround a quadrangle; on one side of which is the chief room open towards the inner area, having one or more pillars on the open side to support the roof, which is flat and solid, that it may serve for walking and for sleeping on. Samson, having probably been paraded in the area, within view of the assembled multitude, requested leave to rest himself against the pillars. By pulling down these, he destroyed the roof above; whilst the shock and strain, together with the weight of the crowd upon the roof, might easily bring down the rest of the edifice. This catastrophe was at once a most characteristic termination of Samson's career, and a signal vindication of the supremacy of the true God. See ver. 24. It is generally supposed that from the history of Samson were derived the stories of Hercules, and some other heroes of heathen mythology. 2 It appears that Samson, as had been foretold (ch. xiii. 5), only began to deliver Israel from the oppression of the Philistines; and that their power was still unbroken at the time of his death. In the first book of Samuel (ch. iv.) we find the Philistines again at war with the Israelites, and the distress of the latter extreme. 3 The events related in the remainder of this book 34 occurred long before the time of Samson; probably soon after the death of Joshua, or the elders who outlived him. The narrative contained in this and the following chapter is obviously connected with ch. i. 34, showing how the unbelief and disobedience of the Israelites, in neglecting to exterminate the Canaanites, led to the introduction of idolatry. The sad history which follows, and occupies ch. xix. xxi., is expressly assigned to the days of Phineas, the grandson of Aaron (see ch. xx. 28); and this occurrence is referred to in Hos. x. 9, as the first open sin of the people after their settlement in Canaan. 4 Either pronouncing an imprecation upon the thief, or, rather, adjuring me to tell what I knew of the money. See Lev. v. 1, and note. 5 Micah and his mother may have intended to honour the true God; but their proceedings were contrary to his law, and exposed them to the punishment of death. They set up a small religious establishment, apparently designed to resemble that at Shiloh. 6 Rather, a house of God,' a sanctuary. 7 Teraphim were carved images, commonly made in a human form, and regarded as household deities. 8 This is, of course, to be understood not of the young man, who was a Levite, but of the city. i eh. 18. 19. 13. 14: Job 29. 16; 1. 22. 21. unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth10 lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. G. 45. 8: K. A 8,9 11 So the Levite went in. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and 12 the young man was unto him as one of his sons. And Micah 'consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah," Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. 18 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them 2 among the tribes of Israel. And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the "house of Micah, they lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee 4 hither? and what makest thou5 in this place? and what hast thou here? And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and 5 I am his priest. And they said unto him, "Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, 6 that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, a Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go. 7 e I ver. 5. ch. 19. 30. "Pro. 14. 12: Is. 44. 20. See Num. 16. 40. Peh. 17. 6; 21. 25. 4 Jos. 19, 47, 48. ch. 1. 34 ch. 13. 2, 5. ch. 17. 1. ch. 17 10; Pro. 28. 21: John 10. 12, 13, Ar. 8. 18-21. y Se Ex. 8. 30. Num. Jos, 19. 47, cal.ed vers. 27, 28. Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with 8 any man. And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their 4 ver. 2. 9 brethren said unto them, What say ye? And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good and 10 are ye still be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. When go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. h Num. 13 30: 14.79; Jos. 2. 23, 24. ye123; 2 Sam. 10. 12: John 6 27; A vers. 7, 27. * Deu. 8. 7-9; 11. 11, 12. ch. 13. 25. n ver. 2. 1 Sam. 14. 28. P ch. 17. 5. 11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out 12 of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. And they went up, and pitched in 'Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Jos. 15. 60. 13 Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. And they 14 passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto " the house of Micah. Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have 15 to do. And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the 16 Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by 17 the entering of the gate. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate 18 with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? Job 21. 5: 20.9: 40. 19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, 'lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and 1 This act was wholly unlawful on the part both of Micah and of the Levite, who had no right to assume the priestly office, even had the occasion been lawful, as he was not of the family of Aaron. See ch. xviii. 30. 2 Micah's delusion was very gross; but how strikingly does it represent the false confidences of ungodly men in every age! 3 Not the whole, but a part of this tribe. See vers. 16, 21. The foregoing narrative having shown how idolatry crept into the family of Micah, the present chapter relates how it was then extended into a part of the tribe of Dan, and became established in a city of note. 4 Their inheritance had been assigned to them; but up to this time they had not obtained possession of it, in ver. 11. Tvers. 2, 14. ch. 17. 4, 5. 4; Pro. 30. 32; Mic. 7. 16 consequence of their own disobedience and remissness. See Josh. xix. 40, 47. 5 Rather, 'What doest thou?' 6 Laish appears to have been one of the most inland settlements of the Zidonians, lying far from the coast, at the extreme north-east of Palestine, at the base of mount Hermon. See note on Deut. iii. 8. Possessing considerable agricultural wealth, its inhabitants were not much engaged in external commerce, Not in the city itself, but in its immediate vicinity; as appears from the words that follow. 8 That is, westward of Kirjath-jearim; for, whenever the sacred writers speak of the points of the compass, they begin from the east, as in Deut. xi. 24, etc. |