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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
J U D G E S
CHAP. XVI.
Samson’s name (we have observed before) signifies a little sun
(sol parvus); we have seen this sun rising very bright, and his morning
ray strong and clear; and, nothing appearing to the contrary, we take
it for granted that the middle of the day was proportionably
illustrious, while he judged Israel twenty years; but the melancholy
story of this chapter gives us such an account of his evening as did
not commend his day. This little sun set under a cloud, and yet, just
in the setting, darted forth one such strong and glorious beam as made
him even then a type of Christ, conquering by death. Here is,
I. Samson greatly endangered by his familiarity with one harlot, and
hardly escaping,
II. Samson quite ruined by his familiarity with another harlot,
Delilah. Observe,
1. How he was betrayed to her by his own lusts,
2. How he was betrayed by her to his sworn enemies, the Philistines,
who,
(1.) By her means got it out of him at last where his great strength
lay,
(2.) Then robbed him of his strength, by taking from his head the crown
of his separation,
(3.) Then seized him, blinded him, imprisoned him, abused him, and, at
a solemn festival, made a show of him,
But, lastly, he avenged himself of them by pulling down the theatre
upon their heads, and so dying with them,
| Samson’s Escape from Gaza. | B. C. 1120. |
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1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went
in unto her.
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither.
And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in
the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In
the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took
the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went
away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders,
and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before
Hebron.
Here is,
1. Samson’s sin,
v. 1.
His taking a Philistine to wife, in the beginning of his time, was in
some degree excusable, but to join himself to a harlot that he
accidentally saw among them was such a profanation of his honour as an
Israelite, as a Nazarite, that we cannot but blush to read it. Tell
it not in Gath. This vile impurity makes the graceful visage of
this Nazarite blacker than a coal,
Lam. iv. 7, 8.
We find not that Samson had any business in Gaza; if he went thither in
quest of a harlot it would make one willing to hope that, as bad as
things were otherwise, there were no prostitutes among the daughters of
Israel. Some think he went thither to observe what posture the
Philistines were in, that he might get some advantages against them; if
so, he forgot his business, neglected that, and so fell into this
snare. His sin began in his eye, with which he should have made a
covenant; he saw there one in the attire of a harlot, and the
lust which conceived brought forth sin: he went in unto her.
2. Samson’s danger. Notice was sent to the magistrates of Gaza, perhaps
by the treacherous harlot herself, that Samson was in the town,
v. 2.
Probably he came in a disguise, or in the dusk of the evening, and went
into an inn or public-house, which happened to be kept by this harlot.
The gates of the city were hereupon shut, guards set, all kept quiet,
that Samson might suspect no danger. Now they thought they had him in a
prison, and doubted not but to be the death of him the next morning. O
that all those who indulge their sensual appetites in drunkenness,
uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts, would see themselves thus
surrounded, waylaid, and marked for ruin, by their spiritual enemies!
The faster they sleep, and the more secure they are, the greater is
their danger.
3. Samson’s escape,
v. 3.
He rose at midnight, perhaps roused by a dream, in slumberings upon the
bed
by his guardian angel, or rather by the checks of his own conscience.
He arose with a penitent abhorrence (we hope) of the sin he was now
committing, and of himself because of it, and with a pious resolution
not to return to it,–rose under an apprehension of the danger he was
in, that he was as one that slept upon the top of a mast,–rose with
such thoughts as these: “Is this a bed fit for a Nazarite to sleep in?
Shall a temple of the living God be thus polluted? Can I be safe under
this guilt?” It was bad that he lay down without such checks; but it
would have been worse if he had lain still under them. He makes
immediately towards the gate of the city, probably finds the guards
asleep, else he would have made them sleep their last, stays not to
break open the gates, but plucks up the posts, takes them, gates and
bar and all, all very large and strong and a vast weight, yet he
carries them on his back several miles, up to the top of a hill,
in disdain of their attempt to secure him with gates and bars,
designing thus to render himself more formidable to the Philistines and
more acceptable to his people, thus to give a proof of the great
strength God had given him and a type of Christ’s victory over death
and the grave. He not only rolled away the stone from the door of the
sepulchre, and so came forth himself, but carried away the gates of the
grave, bar and all, and so left it, ever after, an open prison to all
that are his; it shall not, it cannot, always detain them. O death!
where is thy sting? Where are thy gates? Thanks be to him that not
only gained a victory for himself, but giveth us the victory!
| Delilah’s Treachery. | B. C. 1120. |
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4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the
valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said
unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth,
and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind
him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven
hundred pieces of silver.
6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy
great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to
afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green
withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as
another man.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven
green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with
them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the
chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when
it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou
mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes
that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another
man.
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith,
and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And
there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake
them from off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And
he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with
the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his
sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when
thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three
times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her
words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There
hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a
Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my
strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like
any other man.
The burnt child dreads the fire; yet Samson, that has more than the
strength of a man, in this comes short of the wisdom of a child; for,
though he had been more than once brought into the highest degree of
mischief and danger by the love of women and lusting after them, yet he
would not take warning, but is here again taken in the same snare, and
this third time pays for all. Solomon seems to refer especially to this
story of Samson when, in his caution against uncleanness, he gives this
account of a whorish woman
that she hath cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have been
slain by her; and
that the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. This bad
woman, that brought Samson to ruin, is here named Delilah, an
infamous name, and fitly used to express the person, or thing, that by
flattery or falsehood brings mischief and destruction on those to whom
kindness is pretended. See here,
I. The affection Samson had for Delilah: he loved her,
v. 4.
Some think she was his wife, but then he would have had her home to his
own house; others that he courted her to make her his wife; but there
is too much reason to suspect that it was a sinful affection he had for
her, and that he lived in uncleanness with her. Whether she was an
Israelite or a Philistine is not certain. If an Israelite, which is
scarcely probable, yet she had the heart of a Philistine.
II. The interest which the lords of the Philistines made with her to
betray Samson,
v. 5.
1. That which they told her they designed was to humble him, or afflict
him; they would promise not to do him any hurt, only they would disable
him not to do them any. And so much conscience it should seem they made
of this promise that even then, when he lay ever so much at their
mercy, they would not kill him, no, not when the razor that cut his
hair might sooner and more easily have cut his throat.
2. That which they desired, in order hereunto, was to know where his
great strength lay, and by what means he might be bound. Perhaps they
imagined he had some spell or charm which he carried about with him, by
the force of which he did these great things, and doubted not but that,
if they could get this from him, he would be manageable; and therefore,
having had reason enough formerly to know which was his blind side,
hoped to find out his riddle a second time by ploughing with his
heifer. They engaged Delilah to get it out of him, telling her what a
kindness it would be to them, and perhaps assuring her it should not be
improved to any real mischief, either to him or her.
3. For this they bid high, promised to give her each of them 1100
pieces of silver, 5500 in all. So many shekels amounted to above
1000l. sterling; with this she was hired to betray one she
pretended to love. See what horrid wickedness the love of money is the
root of. Our blessed Saviour was thus betrayed by one whom he called
friend, and with a kiss too, for filthy lucre. No marvel if
those who are unchaste, as Delilah, be unjust; such as lose their
honesty in one instance will in another.
III. The arts by which he put her off from time to time, and kept his
own counsel a great while. She asked him where his great strength
lay, and whether it were possible for him to be bound and afflicted
(v. 6),
pretending that she only desired he would satisfy her curiosity in that
one thing, and that she thought it was impossible he should be bound
otherwise than by her charms.
1. When she urged him very much, he told her,
(1.) That he might be bound with seven green withs,
v. 7.
The experiment was tried
(v. 8),
but it would not do: he broke the withs as easily as a thread
of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire,
v. 9.
(2.) When she still continued her importunity
(v. 10)
he told her that with two new ropes he might be so cramped and hampered
that he might be as easily dealt with as any other man,
This experiment was tried too, but it failed: the new ropes
broke from off his arm like a thread,
v. 12.
(3.) When she still pressed him to communicate the secret, and
upbraided him with it as an unkindness that he had bantered her so
long, he then told her that the weaving of the seven locks of his head
would make a great alteration in him,
This came nearer the matter than any thing he had yet said, but it
would not do: his strength appeared to be very much in his hair, when,
upon the trial of this, purely by the strength of his hair, he carried
away the pin of the beam and the web.
2. In the making of all these experiments, it is hard to say whether
there appears more of Samson’s weakness or Delilah’s wickedness.
(1.) Could any thing be more wicked than her restless and unreasonable
importunity with him to discover a secret which she knew would endanger
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, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson? 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 take away the heart. 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, He told her all his heart.
It seems, he designed to banter her, and to try if he could turn it off
with a jest, and to baffle the liers in wait, 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.
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.
Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird, 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 consumer; 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
(v. 15):
How canst thou say, I love thee, when they heart is not with me?
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
(v. 16);
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
(v. 17):
He told her all his heart. 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 no razor should come upon his head,
ch. xiii. 5.
His consecration to God was to be his strength, for he was to be
strengthened according to the glorious power of that Spirit which
wrought in him mightily, that his strength, by promise, not by
nature, might be a type and figure of the spiritual strength of
believers,
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.
| Samson Betrayed. | B. C. 1120. |
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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 be upon thee, Samson. And he
awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times
before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was
departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and
brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass;
and he did grind in the prison house.
We have here the fatal consequences of Samson’s folly in betraying his
own strength; he soon paid dearly for it. A whore is a deep ditch;
he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. 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 told her
all his heart, and the lords of the Philistines that hired her to
do this base thing are sent for; but they must be sure to bring the
money in their hands,
v. 18.
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 sheep for the
slaughter; 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. Trust not in a friend then, put no confidence in a guide.
See what a treacherous method she took
(v. 19):
She made him sleep upon her knees. 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,
He could not but miss his hair as soon as he awoke, and yet said, “I
will shake myself as at other times 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
wist not that the Lord had departed from him: 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 God has departed
from them, 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,
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 put out his eyes, by
applying fire to them, 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
(v. 1),
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. They brought him down to Gaza, that there he might
appear in weakness where he had lately given such proofs of his
strength
(v. 3),
and be a jest to those to whom he had been a terror. They bound him
with fetters of brass who had before been held in the cords of his
own iniquity, and he did grind in the prison, work in their
bridewell, either for their profit or his punishment, or for both. The
devil does thus by sinners, blinds the minds of those who believe
not, 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! The crown has fallen from his head; woe unto him,
for he hath sinned. 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.
| The Death of Samson; Samson’s Triumph in Death. | B. C. 1120. |
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22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he
was shaven.
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for
to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice:
for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our
hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for
they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and
the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they
said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called
for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and
they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand,
Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house
standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords
of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof
about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made
sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD,
and said, O Lord GOD,
remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only
this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the
Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which
the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with
his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he
bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the
lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead
which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in
his life.
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down,
and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah
and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he
judged Israel twenty years.
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
(v. 22):
His hair began to grow again, as when he was shaven, 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,
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,
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 god, 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
(v. 23, 24):
Our god has delivered Samson our enemy, and the destroyer of our
country, into our hands. 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. Thanks be to him who causeth us to triumph in Christ
Jesus!
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
(v. 25, 27),
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
(1 Cor. x. 7),
and Samson must be the fool in the play. They made themselves and one
another laugh to see how, being blind, he stumbled and blundered. It is
likely they smote this judge of Israel upon the cheek
(Mic. v. 1),
and said, Prophesy who smote thee. It was an instance of their
barbarity to trample thus upon a man in misery, at the sight of whom
awhile ago they would have trembled. It put Samson into the depth of
misery, and as a sword in his bones were their reproaches, when they
said, Where is now they God? Nothing could be more grievous to
so great a spirit; yet, being a penitent, his godly sorrow makes him
patient, and he accepts the indignity as the punishment of his
iniquity. How unrighteous soever the Philistines were, he could not but
own that God was righteous. He had sported himself in his own
deceivings and with his own deceivers, and justly are the Philistines
let loose upon him to make sport with him. Uncleanness is a sin that
makes men vile, and exposes them to contempt. A wound and dishonour
shall he get whose heart is deceived by a woman, and his
reproach shall not be wiped away. Everlasting shame and contempt
will be the portion of those that are blinded and bound by their own
lusts. The devil that deceived them will insult over them.
II. How justly the God of Israel brought sudden destruction upon them
by the hands of Samson. Thousands of the Philistines had got together,
to attend their lords in the sacrifices and joys of this day, and to be
the spectators of this comedy; but it proved to them a fatal tragedy,
for they were all slain, and buried in the ruins of the house: whether
it was a temple or a theatre, or whether it was some slight building
run up for the purpose, is uncertain. Observe,
1. Who were destroyed: All the lords of the Philistines
(v. 27),
who had by bribes corrupted Delilah to betray Samson to them. Evil
pursued those sinners. Many of the people likewise, to the number of
3000, and among them a great many women, one of whom, it is likely, was
that harlot of Gaza mentioned,
v. 1.
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 caused the children of Israel to
trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor,
Num. xxxi. 16.
2. When they were destroyed.
(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: What will this feeble Jew do? 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,
(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.
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,
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
(Ps. li. 12),
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy
free Spirit. 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,
Having hold of them, he bore them down with all his might, crying
aloud, Let me die with the Philistines,
v. 30.
Animamque in vulnere ponit–While inflicting the wound he dies.
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 felo de se, or a
self-murderer, 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, not counting it dear to him, so that he might finish his
course 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, though he was a God that forgave him, he took vengeance of his
inventions
(Ps. xcix. 8),
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. The Lord knows those that are
his.
[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, through death, destroyed him
that had the power of death, that is, the devil
and herein exceeded Samson, that he not only died with the Philistines,
but rose again to triumph over them.
Lastly, 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: He judged Israel twenty years; 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.
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