Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 16

Then went Samson to Gaza. —Rather, And Samson, etc. The narrative is brief and detached. Gaza is near the sea, and was the chief town of the Philistines, in the very heart of their country. It is useless to inquire how Samson could venture there in safety, or whether he went in disguise, or what was his object in going there; to such side-questions the narrative gives us no reply.

And it was told. —Our version rightly supplies these words. They are found in all the versions, and there can be no doubt that the word vayyuggar (Genesis 22:20) has in this case accidentally dropped out of the text.

They compassed him in. —They apparently did not know in what house he was. The word might mean “they went round the city” (Psalms 59:7), that is, to look for him.

Were quiet —that is, they made no attack. Thinking that they had secured him, they seem to have retired to rest. (Compare to Acts 9:23-24.)

Arose at midnight. — Apparently—though the narrative again omits all details—he had been told of the plot and found the gates unguarded; unless we are to suppose that he killed the guards without awakening the city.

Took. — Rather, grasped or seized.

The two posts — i.e., the side-posts.

Went away with them, bar and all. — Rather, tore them up, with the bar. The bar was the one that fastened the two gate doors (or valves) together.

Gaza, as we can see from the site of its walls, had several gates. The site of the gate traditionally pointed out is on the southeast. It may have been the smaller gate, beside the main gate, that he tore up in this way.

In Islamic legend, Ali uses the gate of Chaibar as a shield, which may be a somewhat confused echo and parallel of this event (Pococke, Historia Arabum, p. 10).

That is before Hebron. — It is not implied that Samson walked with the gates and bars on his shoulders the nine miles to Hebron. Instead, it was probably (as local tradition says) to El Montar, a hill in the direction of Hebron, from which the hills of Hebron are visible. Pliny, in his Natural History (vii. 19), cites many instances of colossal strength, but this narrative distinctly implies that Samson's strength was a supernatural gift, arising from his dedication to God. Carrying away the gate of his enemies would be understood in the East as a particularly significant insult. For example, “When Almansor took Compostella, he made the Christians carry the gates of St. James’s Church on their shoulders to Cordova in sign of his victory” (Ferraras, Geschichte von Spanien, Vol. III, p. 145, quoted by Cassel).

He loved a woman. —Delilah was not, as Milton represents, his wife. Josephus (Antiquities 5.8.11) says that she was one who played the harlot among the Philistines, and the fathers all speak of her in similar terms. Nor is it at all clear—as is generally assumed—that she was a Philistine.

In the valley of Sorek. —The English Version here follows the Vulgate, but the word for valley is nachal, and the words may mean (as the Septuagint take them) “on the brook of Sorek.” Sorek was not in the Philistine district, but was near Samson’s native town of Zorah (Judges 13:2). It seems to have derived its name from the “choice vines” that grew there (Genesis 49:11; Isaiah 5:2; Jeremiah 2:21, Hebr.).

Delilah. —The “tender” or “delicate.” Ewald thinks it means “the traitress,” referring to Journ. Asiat., 2:389. The Rabbis refer it to the root daldal, “to debilitate.”

The lords of the Philistines. —The five “satraps.” (See Note on Judges 3:3.) If she were what Josephus asserts, the Philistines might both get access to her, and tempt the greed of an unprincipled and degraded mind. Had she been of their own race, threats would probably have been even more effective with her than with the lady of Timnath (Judges 13:15). The Septuagint here begin to call the Philistines allophuloi, or “aliens.”

Entice him. —See Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 2:18–19.

Wherein his great strength lieth. —Rather, wherein his strength is great. They attributed his strength to some amulet which might be removed.

Eleven hundred pieces of silver. —That is, “eleven hundred silver shekels.” The same sum recurs in Judges 17:2 as the amount set aside for the construction of teraphim by the mother of Micah. If the five lords each gave 1,100 shekels, the amount would be nearly two talents of silver (Exodus 38:25–26)—a most enormous bribe for that age, and especially to such a woman as Delilah. It may be regarded as an almost conclusive proof that Milton is mistaken in making her a Philistine.