Bible Commentaries

Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

Then went Samson to Gaza. — Not by a call from God, but of his own mind, as some think, presuming upon his strength, and therefore justly deserted and foiled. Or if by some weighty occasion, as others hold, yet not purposely to see and have this harlot; for that had been to "make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof," Romans 13:14 which scarce befalleth a godly man to do. But accidentally casting his eyes upon this Circe, he was enchanted by her, finding her fair face to be like a glass, wherein, while larks gaze, they are taken in a day-net.

“ Quid facies faciem Veneris cum veneris ante!

Non sedeas, sed eas: non pereas per eas. ”

And went in unto her. — Carried away by human infirmity, forgetting God and his high calling, this Iudex et Senex falleth into the foul sin of fornication.

“ Laenam non potuit, potuit superare leaenam:

Quem fera non potuit vincere, vicit hera. ”

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[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.

And they compassed him in. — See their sedulity and Samson’s security, but especially God’s superabundant mercy: 1 Timothy 1:14 the riches of his grace cast in over and above desert or desire. Ephesians 2:7 Romans 5:20

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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.

And arose at midnight. — From the bed of fornication, where the Spirit had screeched out unto him, "Oh, do not this abominable thing!" Jeremiah 44:4 Nevertheless he did it; and yet by the instinct of the same Spirit, who might justly have loathed his lodging, he arose and prepared to be gone. God dealeth not with his people according to their sins, but beareth long with their evil manners.

And took the doors of the gate of the city. — The watchmen sleeping the while, or not daring to stir. A figure of Christ’s glorious resurrection, maugre the malice of earth and of hell.

Bar and all. — By an act of stupendous strength - never the like heard of he carrieth away the gates wherein they thought to have encaged him. If a temptation has drawn any of us aside to lie down to sin, it is happy for us if we can arise ere we be surprised by judgment.

Up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron. — Or, Over against Hebron, though some miles distant; for Hebron was fourteen miles from Gaza, saith Adricomius.

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And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name [was] Delilah.

And it came to pass afterward. — Not long afterwards, but before he had soundly repented of his former faultiness; the orifice of his lust being not yet stopped. So Lot committed incest two nights together. But of Judah it is expressly noted that, coming to a sight of his sin with Tamar, he "knew her again no more." Genesis 38:26

In the valley of Sorek. — A pleasant place, full of vines and myrtles. To Samson it proved a valley of vanity.

Whose name was Delilah. — A fit name for a harlot, for it comes from Dalal , which signifieth to exhaust, or to impoverish. It is the property of such female sinners to exhaust the purse, drain the strength, dry up the credit, waste the all of the mightiest Samsons. The Rabbis make Delilah to have been his wife, and further say, that he taught her the law of Moses before he took her; but none of this is likely to be true.

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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.

Entice him, and see wherein, … — Two engines they use against Samson, Muliere et Munere: these were as bad as those two great pieces of ordnance cast by Alphonsus, duke of Ferrara, the one whereof he called the Earthquake, and the other Grandiabolo, or the great devil.

That we may bind him to afflict him. — Or, To humble him. They would not say to kill him, lest that should sound harsh in her ears who had entertained him for her paramour, and pretended love to him, but only to tame him, and take him a link lower, as they say.

Eleven hundred pieces of silver. — Which is held to be more than a thousand pounds. Wicked men care not what they part with, nor how they lavish out of the bag, for the satisfying of their lusts. Haman offered ten thousand talents to have the Jews rooted out. Decius Mundus, a nobleman of Rome, offered Paulina six thousand pounds for one night’s lodging with her, as Josephus reporteth. Lib. xviii, cap. 4.

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And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength [lieth], and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength. — It is likely that Samson at some time or other had given out that his great strength lay in something whereof he might be deprived, though he never yet told wherein; and was now most hardly drawn to it.

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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.

And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs. — This he said for a put off, or as intending to make himself sport with her. But he should have remembered that God’s children will not lie. Isaiah 63:8

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Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

And she bound him with them. — So heathen histories tell us of Hercules, that he was miserably enslaved and abused by his mistress, Omphale Queen of Lydia. Amantes amentes. How was Antony befooled by Cleopatra, Plutarch. and the Persian kings by their concubines, being captivarum suarum captivi! they commanded the whole world, but were commanded by those minions.

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