What are we to make of Samson? He is the final Judge of the book. He has several chapters written about his story and unlike the other characters in Judges, and indeed many in the Bible, we actually get some access into Samson’s mind.
Samson is a larger-than-life character, dangerous, tragic, heroic. He is the only 3-dimensional character in Judges. We hear him crack riddles and jokes. We learn that he loved. We hear his final tragic prayer.
Samson has an interesting relationship with God. He so human. I know a number of people recently have explored the idea of whether Samson was actually faithful and the tradition reading of the record is incorrect. Such an argument rests on two things – the spirit working on and through Samson and secondly his inclusion in Hebrews 11 as faithful. To me these points miss the mark. Judges shows God working with flawed individuals. Samson is (probably) mentioned in 1 Sam 12:11 as an appointed deliverer (at least in the Targum and Pesshita versions – there is some textual confusion) and he is still in Heb 11. God works with flawed humans. This is a source of hope but not evidence that an individual’s actions were right.
We shouldn’t seek to amplify Samson’s evident faults any more than we should whitewash his career. The narrative flow of the book of Judges and the echoing themes of Samson being led by his eyes tells us the spirit’s intent with the record. Samson as he appears in the record is a deeply flawed person. His 20 years of success are barely mentioned because we are meant to learn from his failings rather than try to clean them up. Perhaps we can draw a distinction between Samson the man and Samson the thumbnail in Judges. Despite the significant issues he remains a hero of faith which is encouraging.
Samson gets into inappropriate sexual relationships, he marries a Philistine, goes into a prostitute and ultimately falls in love with Delilah a woman who sold him out for money. Samson will act in rage to achieve revenge. In today’s world he would be branded a one-man terrorist. It seems he will betray every aspect of his covenant, repudiate his birthright as the chosen one to ally with a woman. Ultimately his identity is barely distinct from the Philistines among whom he dies.
Who would continue with Samson? How far is too far? When do you cut the rope and let him go? God stayed there. Samson was never abandoned by God. This is grace, not excusing the man’s flaws but rather working with him through him and responding to the faith he did show.
Locating Samson in the narrative
The book of Judges is a downwards spiral. By the time we get to Samson we have spiraled downwards a long way from Deborah as we go through Gideon, what reads nearly like civil war through Abimelech and then on to Jephthah (and yes I do think despite our moral repugnance did absolutely sacrifice his daughter). The nation of Israel, if we can optimistically call it that, was in a depressing hole. Could things get any worse! How can the cycle of Israel’s failure be broken? What will change them?
Perhaps as someone said at the time a hero will come along with the strength to carry on….
Enter Samson. But his story will continue the same direction towards failure and assimilation. Through his story we see a pattern of descending threes. He marries a Philistine woman, goes into a prostitute and finally loves a betrayer. He is betrayed by his wife, his people (Judah) and then the avaricious Delilah – each incident carrying more risk to his safety. And finally Samson tells three lies – each one moving closer and closer to telling Delilah his secret identity as a Nazir.
Background to Samson
In Judges 13 Manoah – Samson’s dad – is in Zorah the Danite territory assigned by Moses to the tribe. We know historically that the tribe of Dan quit and went north very early historically. Judges 18 tells the story of the Danites moving to the north where they settled and we know it’s early because Moses grandson is there with them in Judges 18:30. In Judges 18:2 the men of Dan set off from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and find a suitable place to live. Zorah and Eshtaol is the HEART of Dan’s allotted territory and that’s where Samson is brought up. Second point that was where God put the tribe of Dan. But they wanted to find a better place.
Manoah’s family stayed behind. They were doing it tough on the border of Philistine country deserted by their tribesman. But God gave them this country and Manoah and his wife were hanging in there. Their life was precarious. They lived in the low hill country right next to the Philistine coastal plain. The Philistines at times moved deep into the hill country, eg they held the hill fort town of Beth Shean until the reign of David.
While the grass looked greener up north, Manoah and his amazing wife stayed behind. But God works eventually and when the time was right and God needed partners Manoah and his wife were there. I’m not saying God will work through us specifically when we tough it out. But at least we might be available when God needs partners to work through.
The Philistines were part of the sea peoples whose movement was concurrent with the late bronze collapse. Around 1190BC we find
1190, Rameses III clashed with them and defeated them. Rameses settled the conquered Philistines, mostly as Egyptian mercenaries, in the coastal towns, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod… signs of destruction in Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza suggest that sometime after the reign of Rameses VI (ca. 1150 b.c.e.), the Philistines drove out their Egyptian overlords by force
H. J. Katzenstein, ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 326.
Given we know the pattern of Judges we should be alert to how the pattern repeats and sometimes when it is missing. The introduction to the final act of the Judges is a little different!
The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. There was a man named Manoah…
Judges 13 :1-2
Where is the oppression? The suffering of Israel? Not mentioned. For 40 years they are under the Philistines – the previous longest period was 20 years. Where do they cry for deliverance? They don’t! Greene suggests this indicates:
…that the Philistines’ regime is relatively benevolent and that the Israelites have lost a sense of national destiny―far from seeking to possess the whole land they are content to remain under the rule of a nation new to the region.
Greene, M. (1991). Enigma Variations: Aspects of the Samson Story Judges 13-16.
It is an interesting observation and tentative conclusion. Distinction, not mixing with the locals, was a key message from Moses, echoed by Joshua and restated in the book of Judges by prophets. I think Greene is bang on. In this episode the people of Judah will align with the Philistines not their deliverer. They had assimilated. Something radical was needed.
Enter a miracle baby to save the nation
Judges 13 records the birth of Samson who name more or less means sunshine. The style of the record should make us think:
What do Jacob, Joseph, Jesus, and Samson have in common? The answer is, quite simply, their birth narratives
Benjamin J. M. Johnson, “What Type of Son Is Samson? Reading Judges 13 as a Biblical Type-Scene,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 53, no. 2 (2010): 269.
To this can be added Isaac, Samuel and John the Baptist. There are common elements to the stories. A barren woman. Usually some suffering, nationally or at the hands of a rival woman. A messenger from God/answered prayer. A special child who goes on to play a significant part in God’s purpose.
It’s quite a list. The patriarchs. Joseph who saved the family of Israel. Samuel – the last Judge and first prophet who was the forerunner of the king. John the Baptist – the forerunner of the Lord. What a collection of significant characters. And Samson.
Many of us were born into religious families. The weight of expectations can sometimes make us want to kick back. Thankfully none of us can kick like Samson! I suspect there are times when we ask ‘why me?’ When we kind of wish we could just disappear or run away for a moment. The weight of expectation – our parents, our friends and our own, can be heavy.
Of the name with the greatest pressure is Jesus. While there are clearly similarities Jesus is mold breaking. However Jesus was born with an unbelievable weight of expectation and we read repeatedly in the gospels that he knew where his journey was taking him. And yet – despite his disciples not understanding – he carried that burden. What an amazing individual Jesus is. If anyone understands the weight of destiny and expectation it is our Lord…
A Nazir from birth
Samson is called dedicated to God in Judges 13:5. The Hebrew is the same word used in Numbers 6 of the Nazarite, the word Nazir. Essentially that’s where you could dedicate yourself to God for a defined time, a week, month year, whatever. In English we refer to it as the Nazarite vow.
While Samson is not explicitly called a Nazarite the word is twice used in the instructions given to his parents. In his final confessional to Delilah he uses the word Nazir as well to describe himself as dedicated. It is true that of the three prohibitions only one is specifically mentioned in relation to Samson, being not cutting the hair, but I believe this makes sense in the context of what is to come and Samson’s hair being the final act. We should read passages closely, but the whole book has one author who was well aware of the Mosaic law.
Samson didn’t choose to be the one who would begin to deliver Israel. He didn’t choose to be a miracle baby. He didn’t choose to be a Nazarite from birth. Under the Nazarite vow in Numbers 6 you could time bound the vow. At the end of your vow you would shave your hair off burn it offer the appropriate offerings before the priest. If you accidentally broke your vow you had to shave off your hair and restart your promised/committed vow time. But Samson had no way out. I wonder if this played into his behavioural patterns?
Samson was born a dedicated child, the future savior of Israel. I suspect that weighed on him more than the gates of Gaza.
Blurring the lines
In Judges 13:24-25 we read the beginning of Samson’s rise to maturity:
Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the Lord empowered him.
Judges 13:24
Oh this is excellent this very promising! But have a look at what is said next:
The Lord’s spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges 13:25
There he is in the camp of Dan as Mahaneh Dan indicates. It should have been the heart of Dan’s allotted territory but of course was not…God’s spirit was moving him in the area. Things look promising! However there is a really interesting thing hidden in v25. A problem. The word variously translated move, stirred, control is the wrong word.
The usual verb for the descent of the spirit on a judge—a verb which will be applied to Samson at 14:19—is ṣālaḥ. Only here do we have the verb pāʿēm, …The basic meaning of the root, from a term meaning “foot,” is to stamp or pound (thus the sundry modern translations that render it here as “to move” are rather weak).… [T]he only other times that the root pāʿam occurs in the Bible as a verb are to indicate the inner turmoil of a dreamer awaking from a disturbing dream (Gen. 41:8) and … Dan. 2:1 and 3
Barry G. Webb, , ed. R. K. Harrison and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 359.
The spirit was beating Samson, things were not harmonious. Samson grew and was blest by God but now he is troubled by the spirit. There is a wrestling for control as the spirit was beating at Samson. This is not the spirit moving people as usually occurs in Judges (eg the spirit empowered Othneil Judges 3:10 and Jepthah Judges 11:29. The spiritrested on Gideon Judges 6:34 – these are all much more neutral or positive words). There is a conflict in the mind going on with Samson.
And then he went down. Down. Just like the nation he was meant to deliver what follows is a sequence of events initiated by something good in his eyes. His parents protest to no avail, I imagine his poor mum, that faithful smart woman and how she must have felt. Samson was consecrated. Holy to God. Yet in Judges 14:3 he sees the woman and she is right in his eyes – the phrase used 4 times as the summary of all the problems with Israel. The Judge and the people had the same problem.
However when we read the record there seems to be an anomaly, for God appears to be the driver:
Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).
Judges 14:4
Does this mean God endorsed Samson marrying a foreigner? That Samson doing what was right in his own eyes was in fact a good example? I think not. Moses warned Israel not to intermarry with the Canaanites. Joshua preached separation. The prophet at the start of Judges had told the people to be separate and Judges 2:6 specifically points to intermarriage as problematic. Samson was a Danite and was more than a normal Israelite – he is a Nazarite to God from the womb. A Nazarite meant someone dedicated, consecrated like a priest. If anyone should have understood the need for separation it was Samson. Rather with Samson having chosen his course God will use it. The leader He has raised up is what he is and God will work with the tool to accomplish the plan. So God used Samson’s failure to cause damage to the Philistines. But look at how! Samson is empowered by the spirit. Does he rally the nation and attack the Philistines? Does he regret his actions but work with the opportunity God has now provided? Surely he gets a wakeup call here? No. At the end of this incident Samson uses the spirit power to murder 30 people so he can steal their clothes to pay off a gambling debt. And then he exists stage left. Hardly an inspiring act of leadership to rally the nation.
We are in the world but not part of the world as Jesus described his disciples in his prayer of John 17. Jesus said in his prayer that the world hated the disciples because they didn’t belong to the world, to the kosmos to the order of things (John 17:14). Jesus prayed for us to be set apart in the truth (John 17:17) the word is to sanctify us. To make us holy, dedicated to God’s ways not the ways of the world.
There can be a temptation to take Jesus’ words out of the context of his broader message and use the words as license to withdraw from society, to live in a commune as a closed community cut off from the world. Or perhaps slightly less extreme to declare that acceptable progress in technology reached its zenith centuries ago as say the Amish do, or that no Bible scholarship has happened since the 1800s or whatever. We are to the be the light of the world – we can’t be hiding, either in ancient dress, ancient practices or ancient halls. And of course the opposite extreme is also dangerous.
We are a unique people not because we are special but because we carry a unique message. That message is transformational and its bearers should be different.
I want you to pause and think back now to when your discipleship started. When you were beginning. When the spirit of God was moving you, when the opportunities were abundant and the slate was clean. There are some things I thought then which were very immature (now I have new immaturities – we are all a work in progress!). But put aside the youthful errors and what was there was a certainty that Jesus was coming. Was a certainty that God was going to upend the kingdoms of men and bring a radical change to the world. The gospel was a precious pure thing. My priorities were clear and simple and they revolved around living discipleship. The spirit was moving me in God’s camp, I occupied the promised land. Today? How has that clarity survived? How has that purpose endured? God has worked in my life, I’m sure of that. But….have the thorns, the cares of this life, complicated my vision? Yes. Oh sure some of the ideas I had when first baptised were wrong. Super judgmental, inconsistent, a little confused by tradition rather than God’s love. But things used to be black and white to me. Now things are more complicated. Mercy and love is messy, but am I using grace as a pretext for evil, or at least as a pretext to blur the lines? For living a life which is lacking in holiness? That is what 1 Pet 2:16 goes on to say.
Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves
1 Pet 2:16
Have I thrown the baby out with the bathwater?
Is my opinion on X and Y better informed or more convenient?
Is my behaviour less uptight or less distinct?
Am I a light on the hill?
Samson blurred the lines. He wasn’t dedicated, separate and holy. Even if you weren’t a Nazarite a good Israelite shouldn’t have taken honey from a carcass to eat and share (Lev 11:26).
What was the result of Samson blurring the lines? Well his wife was given to someone else so in a balanced and rationale response (not) Samson embarks on a complicated terrorist plot involving 300 foxes or jackals and releasing them in pairs – an endeavour which would have required cages and possibly a few nights of catching them. The Philistines then burn the poor young wife and family. Samson kills a few and then he retreats to the rock of Etam.
He leaves the territory of Dan. It was in Dan’s tribal allotment that the spirit once moved on him. But in Judges 15:8 he lives for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam. Away from his family, away from his inheritance and where the spirit once blest him and then agitated him. And he was away from his mission. He wasn’t judging Israel, he wasn’t starting to delivery them. The process was over. Samson had quit and gone to hide in a cave. Because the sanctified one followed his eyes. The sanctified one was indistinguishable from the Philistines. Rather than be holy he was no different to the enemies of God and his actions were driven by personal revenge.
God will use Samson. God will save Samson. God can still reach and use and save you and me when we have blurred the lines. When we have turned aside from our calling to live in and as part of the world. It may well hurt. Samson was hurt. He played with fire and was burnt. He was down and he thought he was out. The good news is God gives Samson more opportunities until eventually he gets it right…it won’t seem like another chance, it will hurt but it will be a chance….
Betrayal and service
Samson has abandoned ship and living in a cave. No doubt Samson thought to himself – when the war is over got to get away, cause if you go home you might just get blown away. But it is not over for the Philistines. The Philistines invade Judah, no doubt angry at the destruction of their grain harvest and vineyards and olive groves [in doing so Samson broke at least the spirit of Deut 20:20 where you weren’t to cut down food producing trees when engaged in war].
3,000 men of Judah acquiesce to the Philistine demands and hand over Samson bound with two new ropes which he breaks, grabs a fresh ass jawbone and lays into the Philistines killing, or knocking down 1,000 of them.
Samson is perceived by most readers as a bit of a joker. In the first incident with the girl from Timnah he makes up a riddle. Again in Judges 15:16 he engages in
Wordplay involving the words for donkey and heap, which are identical, ḥmr. The second line of the poem is an example of archaic poetic progression.
Boling, R. G. (2008). Judges: introduction, translation, and commentary (Vol. 6A, p. 239). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.
So Greene translates Samson’s victory chant in a manner which emphasises the wordplay, having Samson say:
With a donkey’s jaw bone I have made donkeys of them
Greene, M. (1991). Enigma Variations: Aspects of the Samson Story Judges 13-16.
It kind of feels like we are being harsh on Samson – although I think fairly. I want to stop therefore at this point and highlight how this ends up. Samson has deserted his post. He is then betrayed by the men of Judah – enough men of Judah that you might think they could do their own fighting. God then works through Samson.
And then a great thing happens. Rather than go back to his cave, rather than scold the men of Judah for being cowards or perhaps put the jawbone to more use and knock some sense into them all (as Gideon would likely have done) – the record says Samson went on lead Israel for 20 years in Judges 15:20
Betrayal is awful. Especially when it’s your own people, your own family. Yet Samson was able to move past this and lead them for 20 years. Their act of betrayal ultimately leads to him functioning in the role God created him for. Here he is fulfilling the destiny, being the man his mother hoped he would be. Samson’s failures are written up in large font, but we should pause to acknowledge the big man had a big enough heart to forgive and lead his people successfully for 20 years. Admittedly this is not the 40 year period of an idealised leader. But 20 years is not to be sneezed at, especially when the people had betrayed you. This is the high point of Samson’s career. It’s not the focus of the exhortation by the writer but factually this is the man doing his role and is the majority of his career.
I made a covenant with my eyes Job 31:1
In Judges 16:1 Samson repeats the storyline about a woman in his life again, albeit this time it is a worse. He goes down into Philistine territory. He sees a woman. Same pattern after 20 year of success. Failure follows. The Hebrew expression to go into when in the context of a woman almost invariably indicates sexual activity
This word is used often and takes on many nuances of meaning…It is used with the preposition ʾel to mean to have intercourse
Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 122.
Most translators convey this meaning. Yet somehow God uses the incident.
The gate structure visible at ruins like Megiddo represents what probably existed at Gaza. Chambers to the side of the city gates provided a location for the city guard to wait for Samson to finally come out of the boudoir.
Today you can see reproduction 6.8 meter high Assyrian gates from city of Balawat built around 880BC in the British Museum. The gates in Gath could well have been a similar size since the walls of both cities were approximately 7m high. Samson carried off an incredible weight.
Human lust is a reality for most people. Scripture is full of warnings about the destruction that can follow out of control lust, from Proverbs 5:19-20 warning of sex workers, to Paul’s advice to Timothy to just flee. Lust, and failure, is all too common for us.
But there is good news. Even at midnight, in Gaza, having just come from the prostitute, Samson accomplishes what can only be a miracle. There is no mention this time of God seeking occasion or the spirit being on Samson. But to take those massive gates uphill towards Hebron is not humanly possible. It is a vertical climb of 937 meters and some 62km if he got right to the edge of Hebron if it is indeed the old town in the central hill country.
Samson – or should we say God? – has plucked victory from the jaws of defeat. Surely we think it would be easy to construct a motivational appeal to the promises to Abraham – ‘your seed will possess the gate of their enemies; Gen 22:17 and rally the Judahites or what was left of Dan and attack the now gateless Gaza. In the previous incident he was betrayed, had a miracle victory and then Judged Israel for 20 years – surely with this new miracle Samson could initiative a new phase of throwing off the Philistine rule! But nothing. Samson doesn’t do anything.
When we mess up and find our selves in Gaza and God comes for us we need to work with the momentum back to his purpose not let the moment go. Don’t continue on to the next failure, change the narrative, work with God. God was willing to work with Samson in the most unlikely of circumstances, tragically Samson didn’t seize the opportunity to work with God as well.
Night overcomes the sun
When Samson made up a riddle about the honey in the dead lion carcase in Judges 14 the Philistines were stumped until they threaten his poor wife who in turn pressures Samson into giving her his secret. This same storyline will repeat in the final episode of Samson’s story but the stakes will go up. When the Philistines gave Samson the answer to his wedding riddle they do so in a riddle form themselves:
What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?”
Judges 14:18
The answer to their answer is love. Love is sweeter than honey and stronger than a lion. And love was to be Samson’s undoing when the third woman enters Samson’s adult life. And only this one woman is named.
Delilah is not ethnically identified so speculation as to her nationality are missing the point. It’s not about race. Delilah’s name is somewhat disputed. Some think it means
flirtatious
Boling, R. G. (2008). Judges: introduction, translation, and commentary (Vol. 6A, p. 248). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.
The Anchor Yale Dictionary says:
The name may mean “loose hair” or “small, slight”; it is easily explained as a pun on the Hebrew word for “night” (laylâ), since Samson’s name is related to the word for “sun” (šemeš). On a symbolic level, their names suggest the overcoming of the sun by the night
J. Cheryl Exum, “Delilah (Person),” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 133.
To be clear, while Delilah’s name might not specifically mean “night” there is a very clear phonetic connection. Samson is not the only one who can make word plays – the narrator is doing the same. To ensure the wordplay lands the Hebrew word layla/night occurs twice each in v2 and v3 making the phonetic connection hard to miss. The sun will be overcome by the night.
Samson falls in love – the first time we are told this in Judges 16:4 and after this the rulers of the Philistines approach Delilah to pay her to betray Samson so they can prevail over him and afflict or oppress him. She agrees to do so for silver from each of the five lords.
Eleven hundred shekels of silver is an exorbitant sum—a king’s ransom (see 2 Sam 18:12). Compare the ten shekels that was the standard annual wage of a laborer and the four to six hundred shekels that was paid for tracts of land. The 5500 shekels would equal 550 times the average annual wage
Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Jdg 16:5.
I am aware that some suggest a connection between Delilah and Micah’s 1,100 hundred pieces of silver in the next chapter however the connection is moral NOT historical as Chapter 17 and 18 occurs a few hundred years before Delilah is born. The connection is moving from a political sell out to a religious sell out.
We know the story. Samson tells a lie and Delilah acts on it and raises the alarm only to discover Samson’s lie. After the first incident he knows the drill but proceeds Why? Why this self-destruction? Was it just mindlessly stupid unaware because of his love of a riddle and word games? I don’t think so. His lies get closer and closer to the truth each time with the 7 bowstrings the fresh ropes (I suspect he had dreadlocks) and the 7 braids of hair being secured. He knew Delilah would test his lies.
Was this game playing part of building sexual tension with Delilah? Was he just blinded by love? I tend to think Samson was engaging in behaviour that we all can do. We skate close to the edge for a thrill. We push the boundaries thinking we will stay in control. Flirting with sin is a sure path to disaster. Rather than flee from temptation we play with it, thinking like the addict that we can stop whenever we want. And like Samson we can control things for a while, until there is a tipping point, an unexpected play. In his case it was Delilah going into full emotional blackmail mode.
Delilah can’t get the answer she wants with games so she exploits Samson’s love for her. This woman is a piece of work. She had the strong man of Israel there and he would and could protect her from any harm but she doesn’t want that. She manipulates him for cash.
In his confession to Delilah Samson reveals he is a consecrated to God and points to his hair as the key to his strength. This is the only time Samson discusses his calling, it ties the story back to the beginning in Judges 13. The only aspect of the Nazarite vow he kept (assuming the others applied but either way) is his hair. The hair of a Nazarite was cut off at the conclusion of their vow and burnt on the altar (Num 6:9-12), but here the lifelong dedication is going to be violated. Block makes the observation:
Samson’s problem with his vow is not so much that he willfully violates it; he simply does not take it seriously. Like his strength, and the people around him, it is a toy to be played with, not a calling to be fulfilled
Daniel Isaac Block, , vol. 6, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 459.
However Samson DID take his role seriously for 20 years, but in the narrative flow that is merely a verse. Unfortunately the lessons are more from his misbehaviours , reflecting as they do the failure of the nation to be separate and be dedicated to the God of Israel. Too often he didn’t take his calling to holy, to be separate seriously.
Now his eyes are gouged out. Like the nation he did what was right in his eyes but now no longer. In hyperbole Jesus says in Matt 5:29 that if our eye is causing us to offend we should rip it out. Avoiding sin is serious. Samson’s eyes are now involuntarily removed. He is set to grinding flour in the prison.
Larger milling houses often served as prison workhouses in Mesopotamia, but each prisoner still used a handmill for grinding. The large rotary mill that could be powered by donkey or slave labor was not invented until after the Old Testament period. The palace at Ebla had a room containing sixteen handmills, inferred to be a place where prisoners ground grain. Grinding houses would include prisoners of war, criminals and those who had defaulted on their debts.
Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. (2000). The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed., Jdg 16:21). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
In Gaza where he had taken the gates of his enemies he is now in imprisoned. But like the prodigal son, perhaps some sense began to return to him – indicated by the growth of his hair. A Nazarite who broke their vow had to shave off their hair but then they could restart their entire vow period from the beginning again (Num 6:12). The commentator is highlighting a gradual change underway which the Philistines wouldn’t perceive – Samson is restarting his vow.
was blind but now I see
Samson is brought out from prison to entertain the Lords of the Philistines and the mob in a celebration of Dagon’s victory. Contrary to what you may have heard, we have no idea what Dagon was like as a god. He appears pretty early history
Dagon was worshiped as early as the third millennium BC at Ebla. Additional evidence supports his prominence in other regions as well
April Favara, “Dagon,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
It seems Dagon migrated a fair way from Mesopotamia to Canaan where the Philistines adopted him (it wasn’t just the Israelites who acquired a taste for the local gods). Despite it still being repeated in some sources, the dodgy entomology that sees Dagon often described as a fish god or god of grain however these
arguments [for a relationship with fish] were rejected early in the 20th century, they were later revived…[but are]… now considered highly improbable… The Semitic root dgn, when translated as “grain,” is also seen as the original meaning of the name Dagon…yet the notion of Dagon as a god of grain finds no solid evidence in the ANE.
Lowell K. Handy, “Dagon (Deity),” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 2.
The assumption is that the final scene here plays out in a temple to Dagon. The context is a sacrifice to Dagon and the Heb word variously rendered house or temple depending on your version is used for both throughout the OT. It is a fair assumption we have some idea what the place looked like:
Excavations at Tell Qasile in northern Tel Aviv and at Tel Miqne (ancient Ekron), 21 miles south of Tel Aviv, have revealed the remains of two Philistine temples. These temples have the same design, an antechamber and main hall with its roof supported by two central pillars made of wood resting on round stone bases and placed along a center axis. More importantly, these pillars are separated by a distance of only 6 1/2 feet (2 m). This construction design makes it quite possible for a tall man to dislodge them from their stone bases and bring the entire structure down, just as the biblical account records. Unfortunately, the Philistine temple of Dagon in Gaza, brought down by Samson, cannot presently be excavated because it lies under the modern city. However, based on the archaeological examples that have been discovered, there is little doubt that it has the same features
Randall Price and H. Wayne House, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), 113114
The Lexham Bible Dictionary suggests a 9th century temple has also been found at Gath which:
shares similarities with other Philistine temples discovered in Qasile, including two large pillars at the center of the structure
Daniel O. McClellan, “Gath,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Contra this however Lawson warns:
The three successive temples at Tel Qasile, covering the entire period of Philistine occupation, document an impressive diversity of architecture and floor plan, suggesting scholars should not expect uniformity in Philistine cult centers.
Lawson G. Stone, in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, ed. Philip W. Comfort, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012), 419-420.
Many commentators reject the idea that Samson was a big unit however before he did anything he attracted 30 bodyguard Philistine friends at his wedding so something looked odd about him. If Samson was normally proportioned, ie wingspan approximately equals height, his was over 6 ½ foot tall to reach and push the two pillars apart. Lebron James the famous basketball player is 6 foot 9 tall with a 7 foot wingspan, so I guess he could be a model for Samson….
I want to drill into one piece only really with this incident.
Look hard at Samson’s prayer. Remember me, strengthen me, I can get, my two eyes. Let me die. 5 times its about Samson.
The Hebrew in v28 is a touch uncertain depending on whether you are a MT or LXX fan
The MT suggests
Let me get revenge from the Philistines for one of my two eyes
Trent C. Butler, , vol. 8, Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville; Dallas; Mexico City; Rio De Janeiro; Beijing: Thomas Nelson, 2009), 310.
Whereas the LXX suggests “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance” for his two eyes.
The interest piece there is whether Samson wants at least partial revenge or one final act of revenge – kind of it’s both really. Anyway it is sad that Samson’s eyes which got him into trouble are the thing he wants revenge for at this point. He doesn’t seem to have fully grasped that does he?
Contrast Samson’s prayer and motivation with those of David. When the man after God’s own heart heard the boasting and blasphemy of Goliath of Gath David blurts out:
who is this uncircumcised Philistine defying the armies of the living God?’
1 Sam 17:26
Samson on the other hand expresses no corporate concern for his mission, for God’s honour (in contrast to Dagon’s which the Philistines were extolling). Samson wants revenge and God’s aid to end his suffering. This is I think only the second time he acknowledges God as the source of his strength. The first time is after his victory with the jawbone when he is very thirsty and appeals to God for water. Like the nation he followed his eyes and failed to be separate. Like the nation too, he turns to God only when afflicted by his enemies. And God answers.
Despite the criticism there is something in Samson’s prayer and death
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it
Judges 16:30
Samson might have prayed a somewhat self-focused prayer. It was no template Lord’s prayer piece. But he believed. He had faith that God would work through him. He leaned in (literally) to the likelihood of God working in him, responding to his call.
This incident gives me hope. This is no model prayer. This is no template repentance. Samson betrayed his vow for the love of an avaricious woman after a number of incidents where he was anything but holy. Even after his downfall he is still – how should we put it – ‘rough around the edges’. Yet God hears and responds.
We can fall into an unhealthy expectation of perfection, of perfect faith, of perfect prayer. Samson’s prayer never makes into bible classes on prayer. Yes we should be consecrated to God, but God’s grace is not dependent on a given level of performance.
Perfection is where we should aim but perfection doesn’t define or limit God’s reach. I think of Peter in Matt 14:28-31 walking on the water, sees the waves and starts to sink. All he can get out is help me Lord I’m sinking. Jesus will perhaps criticise his lack of faith but still saves Peter and pulls him into the boat. Your faith isn’t perfect. You are drowning in a terrible mess but are you beyond Jesus’ reach? No.
Samson’s death was a triumph of faith, of gaining strength from weakness to echo Heb 11:34 and of God’s willingness to worth with and work through imperfect humans.
Nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it
In Samson’s final prayer he asked to die with the Philistines. The man who failed to demonstrate the separation God desired of his people is buried in temple of Dagon surrounded by Philistines. Judges chapter 16 is a tragedy. Samson’s story was finished at the end of Chapter 15 where the usual concluding formula of the book is given. He judged Israel for 20 years. That was it, the end of the story. Samson started out badly but ended as the Judge doing the role God created him for. That’s how you would want it to end. But human weakness, his wandering eyes, led to chapter 16 and we read of his misadventure in Gath through to his betrayal and then ultimate death in Gath as a blind and broken man.
Psa 116:15 is a verse which has troubled translators. The traditional KJV “Precious in the eyes of the LORD are the death of all his saints” doesn’t fit in the context (or the character of God).
God does not happily accept the death of any faithful one, but considers life the better alternative and counts each death as costly and weighty. NJPS translates the first half of v.15 as “grievous in the Lord’s sight.”
Nancy deClaissé-Walford, “Book Five of the Psalter: Psalms 107–150,” in The Book of Psalms, ed. E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 861–862.
The Message puts it well:
How painful it is to the Lord when one of his people dies
Death hurts God. He darkened the sky and shook the earth when his beloved son died. He grieves the loss – though temporary – of his children.
Samson had great highs and lows. But the mercies of God go far. His family come and take the body of their final Judge and
They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father
Judges 16:31
He’s finally home. This is where he emerged, a special child, dedicated to the Lord, so full of promise. Over 20 years ago God’s spirit was wrestling with Samson between these two towns. Here he finds rest at last. And in his death, finally for the first time we see a positive action by his family. Samson might have concluded he belonged among the bodies of his tormenters, but God wasn’t having it. We might think we are the most wretched creatures alive but that is not how our God sees his children. We might be down, but we are never out of His reach and his love.
God rewrites Samson’s conclusions. He rewrites our lives too. The NRSV (along with others) translates Psalm 87:4-6 this way:
Among those who know me I mention Rahab [Egypt] and Babylon; Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia [all traditionally enemies of God’s people and physically distant from God] — “This one was born there,” they say. 5 And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in it”; for the Most High himself will establish it. 6 The Lord records, as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah
Psalm 87:4-6 NRSV
We might think we belong in Egypt or Philistia but our Father disagrees. He will continue to rewrite our story. Samson is reunited with his family, in the family tomb blind, broken, dead but not forgotten. And God changes the pattern of Judges and restates the conclusion to remind us
He had led Israel for twenty years. Judges 16:31
Judges 16:31
These all died in faith, witnesses not to human triumph but to the power of God and his willingness to work powerfully through imperfect humans, a cloud of witnesses that compel us on in faith and hope.
by Daniel Edgecombe
Living Faith 